ai^A  D  D  R  E  S  S 


HIS    EXCELLENCY 


ALEXANDER  H.  BULLOCK 


TWO    BHANOHES 


~g>$m$ 


Is 


JANUARY    3,    1868. 


tiOSTON: 

WRIGHT     &     POTTER,    STATE     PRINTERS, 

No.  4  Spring  Lane. 

1868. 


V 


irenive 


in  2007  with  funding  from 
,  IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


UCSe  LIBRARY 

SENATE No.  1. 

ADDRESS 


HIS   EXCELLENCY 

ALEXANDER  H.  BULLOCK, 

TO  THB 

TWO    BRANCHES 

OF  THB  ' 

f  egiBhtiue  0f  Passat|jusetts, 


JANUARY    3,    1868. 


BOSTON: 

WRIGHT    &   POTTER,   STATE   PRINTERS, 

No.  4  Spring  Lane. 

1868. 


ADDRESS. 


Gentlemen  of  the  Senate,  and  of 

the  House  of  JRepresentativ^s : 

It  may  well  awaken  our  patriotic  pride  that 
we  convene,  at  the  beginning  of  a  new  year, 
public  servants  of  a  Commonwealth  which  is 
distinguished  by  independence,  intelligence  and 
contentment.  Here  also  harmony,  confidence  and 
faith  in  the  future  prevail,  l^o  questions  of  the 
relations  of  the  State  with  the  !N"ational  Union; 
no  doubts  as  to  what  we  have  done,  or  as  to  what 
we  ought  to  do  on  the  broad  field  of  humanity  and 
patriotism;  no  fears  of  our  public  credit,  which  is 
subjected  to  little  inquiry  abroad  because  it  is  well 
sustained  at  home ;  no  general  or  particular  appre- 
hension as  to  our  condition,  or  prospects,  or  duties, 
can  disturb  the  reflections  appropriate  to  this  day 
and  this  occasion. 

These  facts  ought,  also,  to  quicken  our  sense 
of  responsibility.     Whatever  we  of  this  genera- 


4  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

tion,  as  a  part  in  the  federal  fraternity,  have  accom- 
plished, and  whatever  as  a  local  community  we 
have  attained,  we  owe  largely  to  the  virtues  of  our 
ancestors;  to  their  example  of  piety  and  morals; 
to  their  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  the  whole 
country;  to  their  support  of  education  and  philan- 
thropy; to  their  consistent  practice  of  liberality  and 
economy  in  all  the  affairs  of  state.  "We  cannot 
afford  to  obscure,  or  forget,  or  neglect  the  lessons 
of  our  past.  They  are  to  us  a  sacred  treasuiy  of 
resources.  The  thought  of  these  examples,  the 
imitation  of  them,  varying  only  to  accord  with 
changing  time  and  circumstance,  may  wisely  be  a 
chief  influence  in  our  own  policy  and  action. 

FREE   EDUCATION. 

"We  best  give  effect  to  one  of  the  highest  of  their 
examples,  and  we  continue  a  policy  which  stood 
first  and  last  with  them,  by  granting  a  broad  and 
ample  support  to  the  interests  of  popular  education. 
The  wisdom  and  the  necessity  of  this,  as  an  assur- 
ance of  our  civil  and  political  strength  among  the 
States,  were  never  niore  obvious  than  now.  The 
well  ordered  finances  and  the  concentrated  and 
intense  system  of  productive  labor  of  the  Common- 
wealth have  done  much  to  gain  for  it  a  renown  in 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  6 

all  parts  of  the  world;  and  these  are  dependent  upon 
that,  mental  training  which  has  given  to  our  indus- 
try its  keenness,  its  energy  and  its  transmitted  life. 
But,  beyond  the  tangible  relations  of  the  material 
arts,  the  conditions  of  our  success  and  reputation  at 
home  and  abroad  depend  in  chief  upon  the  mani- 
festations of  cultivated  mind  in  every  sphere  of 
thought  and  action.  This  State,  now  a  small  spot 
among  the  divisions  of  the  map,  must  rely  mainly 
for  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  influences  and  forces 
of  a  great  nation,  upon  its  educated  manhood; 
educated  for  statesmanship,  and  government,  and 
science,  and  industry.  There  are  no  bounda- 
ries to  circumscribe  a  Commonwealth  in  which 
such  culture  exists  in  full  development.  This 
conquers  prejudices,  makes  all  sections  on^  and 
imparts  to  local  history  universality. 

In  calling  your  attention  to  our  public  condition, 
I  rejoice,  therefore,  that  it  becomes  my  duty  to  state 
that  never  before,  in  periods  of  peace  or  of  war,  have 
the  returns  of  the  department  of  education  been  so 
encouraging  as  at  this  time.  You  will  bear  in 
mind  that  the  last  year  has  been  one  of  thought- 
fulness  and  apprehension  in  relation  to  finance; 
and  yet,  while  the  premonitions  of  financial  embar- 
rassments have  usually  been  caught  quickly  by  our 


6  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

towns,  at  no  time  before  have  they  exhibited  a 
perception  of  public  difficulty  so  well  matched  by 
an  equal  readiness  for  public  duty  and  sacrifice. 
In  no  former  period  have  the  people  of  Massachu- 
setts proved  themselves  so  largely  just,  and  consid- 
erate, and  generous  in  promoting  the  cause  of 
education.  I  do  not  think  that  the  returns  of  any 
previous  year  have  illustrated  such  genuine  prog- 
ress. They  indicate  that  the  old  system  is  at 
length  reinvigorated  by  new  ideas;  and  that  the 
State  is  moving  onward  and  upward,  following  the 
ancient  example,  but  reinforcing  it  with  the  power 
of  later  and  better  methods. 

It  appears  from  the  returns  of  the  last  year  to 
the  Secretary  of  the  Boai-d  of  Education  that  two 
hundi'ed  and  thirty-six  thousand  pupils  have  been 
in  attendance  in  the  public  schools  during  an 
average  time  of  eight  months.  Of  this  whole 
number  less  than  twenty-six  thousand  were  below 
five  or  over  fifteen  years  of  age.  The  number  of 
teachers  employed  during  the  year  has  been  nearly 
eight  thousand;  and  the  proportion  of  female 
teachers,  now  little  short  of  seven-eighths  of  the 
whole,  has  been  constantly  increasing.  This  is  a 
striking  fact;  not  unsatisfactory  when  we  consider 
that  nearly  the  entire  number  of  pupils  in  the  free 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  7 

schools  are  between  the  ages  of  five  and  fifteen. 
We  have  now  reached  that  stage  in  oiu*  pubhc 
education  when  it  is  settled  that  instruction  from 
female  teachers  is  hereafter  to  prevail;  and  there- 
fore it  is  that,  having  on  two  former  occasions 
invited  attention  to  the  subject,  I  desire  again  to 
ui'ge  upon  the  people  through  their  representatives, 
the  absolute  importance,  as  well  as  the  simple 
justice,  of  a  more  liberal  measure  of  compensation 
for  the  services  of  these  teachers.  The  past  year 
has  witnessed  an  increase  in  this  particular  of 
about  eight  per  cent.  But  the  rates  paid  to  female 
teachers  in  the  whole  State  do  not  yet  exceed  one 
dollar  per  day,  and  fall  far  below  those  which  the 
same  people  who  support  public  schools  and  believe 
in  them  pay  to  uneducated  laborers  upon  their 
farms  and  gardens.  "We  may  hail  with  satisfaction 
the  ratio  of  increase  in  this  respect  which  has 
occurred  in  the  last  three  years,  but  not  so  much  for 
what  has  yet  been  attained  as  for  what  we  are 
encouraged  to  expect  in  the  years  to  come.  I  am 
warranted,  therefore,  in  once  more  urging  the 
transcendent  necessity  of  making  larger  compen- 
sation to  the  teachers  of  schools,  because  it  is  just, 
and  because  it  will  elevate  not  them  alone,  but  also 
the  schools  and  the  whole  people. 


8  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

The  amount  raised  by  taxation  during  the  year 
for  the  support  of  free  education  was  $2,355,505.96, 
an  increase  from  the  previous  year  of  $362,328.57. 
This  is  far  in  advance  of  any  annual  increase  here- 
tofore realized,  and  it  has  been  accomplished  at  a 
time  when  the  public  burdens  have  begun  to  be 
sensibly  felt  by  the  citizens.  I  know  not  any 
better  way  in  which  to  express  the  measure  of 
sacrifice  which  the  convictions  of  duty  have 
brought  this  people  to  make,  than  the  bare  state- 
ment that  the  sum  raised  by  taxes  during  the  last 
year  for  free  education  averaged  nine  dollars  for 
each  child  in  the  State.  If  to  these  we  add  the 
returned  expenses  of  private  schools,  the  whole 
amount  becomes  $3,160,665.94:;  which  is  equal  to 
more  than  twelve  dollars  expended  upon  every  boy 
and  girl  between  five  and  fifteen  years  of  age. 

Accompanying  all  this  increasing  liberality  in 
the  support  of  public  schools,  there  has  been 
exhibited  by  teachers,  and  by  a  large  class  of 
citizens  who  have  become  interested  in  this  subject, 
a  growing  and  expanding  spirit  of  inquiry.  Meth- 
ods of  instruction,  and  all  the  generalities  and 
particulars  of  the  entire  system,  are  subjected  to 
open  scrutiny  and  discussion.  .  In  all  the  callings 
of  life  the  best  modern  thinkers   are  expending 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  ^9 

their  most  ingenious  and  laborious  thoughts  upon 
this  field  of  investigation.  In  the  wide  range  of 
topics  which  these  inquiries  have  raised,  by  no 
means  inconsiderable  or  unimportant  has  been  that 
of  the  discipline  and  government  of  the  public 
pupils;  I  call  them  public  pupils  because  they  are 
all  such;  though  not  taken  from  home  or  parentage, 
yet  the  wards  of  the  State,  under  its  beneficent  and 
parental  care. 

One  of  the  questions  greatly  discussed  by  the 
people,  and  in  a  large  portion  of  the  reports  of  the 
committees,  has  been  that  of  the  utility  and  wisdom 
of  the  practice  of  corporal  punishment.  Consid- 
ering that  about  seven-eighths  of  all  the  public 
instructors  are  young  women,  it  becomes  important 
to  them,  and  to  more  than  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
six  thousand  children  in  their  charge,  that  the 
least  possible  measure  of  this  mode  of  discipline 
should  be  practised.  In  my  semi-annual  visits  to 
the  four  iSTormal  schools,  where  I  have  had  occasion 
to  counsel  three  hundred  young  women  going 
forth  to  the  responsibilities  of  public  teachers, 
I  have  not  refrained  from  a  free  expression  of  the 
opinion,  which  I  cherish  as  a  conviction,  that  a 
Christian  civilization,  a»  just  and  large  humanity, 
and   a   progressive   policy   of  education,   call   for 


X(J  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

the   very  general   disuse   of  corporal  punishment 
in   the   schools   of  Massachusetts. 

riKAN^OlAL   COJ^^DITIOJf  AISTD   PROSPECTS. 

The  financial  interests  of  the  State  will  neces- 
sarily command  the  earnest  attention  of  the  Legis- 
lature. ]^ever  has  there  been  more  pressing  need 
of  carefulness  and  deliberation  in  the  application 
and  disposal  of  public  resources,  and  in  the 
preservation  of  the  State  and  ^N^ational  credit. 
The  present  condition  of  our  own  finances  will 
render  the  demand  for  wise  legislation  more  than 
ever  imperative. 

"With  the  resources  at  our  command,  there  need 
be  no  obstacle  nor  even  embarrassment  in  the  way 
of  prompt  and  efficient  measures  to  secure  the 
highest  welfare  of  the  people,  without  imposing 
heavy  pecuniary  burdens.  Having  this  purpose 
in  view,  after  thorough  inquiry  into  the  whole 
subject,  I  am  enabled  to  submit  for  the  con- 
sideration of  the  Legislature  the  three  following 
propositions: — 

First,  The  funding  of  all  present  temporary  and 
floating  liabilities ; 

Second,  Such  provision  as  shall  not  fail  to  make 
sure  the  redemption  at  maturity  of  such  additional 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  11 

funded  debt,  together  with  all  present  outstanding 
funded  liabilities  for  the  payment  of  which  no 
provision  has  heretofore  been  made ; 

Tliird,  The  establishment  of  sinking  funds  to  be 
derived  out  of  resources  already  at  our  disposal, 
and  in  such  amount  as,  with  their  accumulations, 
will  secure  that  result  without  a  resort  to  taxation. 

That  these  propositions  are  practicable  and  can 
be  made  available  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
purposes  which  I  have  mentioned,  will  clearly 
appear  from  the  statement  of  the  present  con- 
dition of  the  public  debt  and  resources  of  the 
Commonwealth,  which  I  have  the  honor  to  submit 
for  the  information  and  action  of  the  Legislature, 

The  Funded  Debt  and  Provisions  for  its 
Redemption. 

Of  that  portion  of  the  funded  debt 
of  the  Commonwealth,  including 
loans  to  the  Western,  IsTorwich 
and  Worcester,  and  Eastern  Rail- 
road Corporations,  and  amount- 
ing,    on    the    first    of    January 

current,  to |22,943,760  00 

the  payment  of       ...         .  $21,605,760  00 
is  amply  secured  by  sinking  funds,  bonds,  mort- 


12  GOVERNOR'S  xiDDRESS.  [Jan. 

gages  and  collaterals,  the  accumulations  of  the 
former  being  in  some  instances  much  more  than 
sufficient  for  the  redemption  at  maturity  of  the 
scrip  for  which  they  were  established  and  pledged. 
The  scrip  loaned  to  the  Troy  and  Greenfield 
Railroad  Corporation,  amounting  to  $1,720,680,  is 
not  included  in  the  foregoing  statement  of  funded 
debt.  The  redemption  of  this  scrip  was  originally 
provided  for  in  the  establishment  of  the  Troy  and 
Greenfield  Railroad  Loan  Sinking  Fund,  and  its 
securities,  now  amounting  to  $93,454:.48,  still 
remain  in  the  custody  of  the  Treasurer  and 
Receiver-General.  The  payment  of  this  loan, 
however,  is  guaranteed  beyond  a  peradventure  in 
the  pledged  faith  of  the  Commonwealth,  in  which 
is  now  vested  absolute  title  to  the  road  and  its 
appurtenances.  But  in  accordance  with  the  long 
established  and  sound  financial  policy  of  Massa- 
chusetts, I  have  no  hesitancy  in  recommending  the 
resuscitation  of  this  sinking  fund,  to  be  increased 
and  supplied  from  such  resources  as  the  Legislature 
may  designate,  and  in  such  amount  as  shall  insure 
means  for  the  redemption  of  past  and  future  issues 
of  scrip  for  the  payment  of  expenses  involved  in 
the  completion  of  the  road  and  tunnel. 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  13 

That  portion   of  the   funded   debt 
for  which  no  special    provision 
has  been  made,  is  now         .         .     $1,338,000  00 
One    of   the    principal    items    in- 
cluded in  this  sum  is  the  Coast 
Defence  Loan,  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  which  special   provision 
should  be  made,  amounting  to  .       $888,000  00 
The   Coast  Defence   Loan  was   authorized    by 
chapter  118  of  the  Acts  of  1863,  and  of  the  pro- 
ceeds   derived  therefrom    there    remains    in    the 
treasury,  unappropriated,  the  sum  of  $359,062.28. 
The  whole  amount  expended  in  the  purchase  of 
ordnance,  repair  and  equipment  of  coast  defences, 
and  for  the  protection  of  harbors,  &c.,  is  thus  far 
$432,187.72;  and  of  the  appropriation  of  $100,000 
made  by  the  Legislature  of  1867  for  the  protection 
and  preservation  of  Cape  Cod  Harbor,  at  Province- 
town,  the  sum  of  $97,000  still  remains  subject  to 
the  requisition  of  the  Commissioners  as  the  work 
progresses.     The  amount,  therefore,  either  actually 
expended  or  allowed  for  coast  defences  and  protec- 
tion  of  harbors  is  now  $528,937.72,  leaving  the 
unappropriated  balance  as  before  stated. 

During  the  year  1866,  a  portion  of  the  ordnance 
purchased  with  this  loan  was  sold,  and  the  pro- 


14  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

ceeds,  amounting  to  $165,836.58,  were  paid  into 
the  State  treasury.    In  the  absence  of  any  provision 
establishing  a  sinking  fund  for  the  redemption  of 
the  Coast  Defence  scrip,  this  money  was  placed  to 
the  credit  of  the  ordinary  revenue.     As  a  measure 
tending  directly  and  effectually  to  strengthen  and 
advance  the  high  credit  already  attained  by  Massa- 
chusetts at  home  and  abroad,  I  earnestly  recom- 
mend that  this  sum  be  set  apart  as  the  nucleus  of  a 
sinking  fund  pledged  for  the  redemption  of  this 
scrip  which  matures  in  1883.     To  the  fund  thus 
created,  enough  should  be  added,  either  from  the 
unappropriated  balance  remaining  in  the  treasury 
to  the  credit  of  the  Coast  Defence  Loan,  or  from 
the  proceeds  of  re-imbursement  soon  expected  from 
the  United  States  government  for   coast  defence 
expenditure,  to  make  an  amount,  which,  with  its 
legitimate    accumulations,    will    be  sufficient    for 
the   desired  purpose.     If  from   the   three  sources 
above   indicated, — the   first  two  of  which   exhibit 
nearly  $525,000  in  hand, — a  Coast  Defence  Loan 
Sinking  Fund  of  $366,000  were  now  established, 
the  amount   at  six  per  cent,  interest  will  redeem 
the   entire  loan   at  maturity,  and  that  without  a 
single   dollar  of  taxation;    while   of  the   original 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  15 

assets,  a  large  sum  will  yet  remain  applicable  to 
such  uses  as  the  Legislature  shall  see  fit  to  elect. 

The  Union  Loan  Sinking  Fund,  including  the 
increased  market  value  of  its  securities,  is  now 
nearly  sufficient  for  the  payment  of  the  Union 
Fund  Loan  of  $3,600,000,  which  matures  in  vari- 
ous instalments  from  1871  to  1878.  This  fund,  as 
I  am  confidently  assured  from  official  sources,  will 
very  soon  receive  an  accession  of  more  than  eight 
hundred  thousand  dollars  from  the  general  govern- 
ment, in  further  re-imbursement  of  expenses  incur- 
red by  Massachusetts  on  account  of  the  war, 
upwards  of  six  hundred  thousand  dollars  of  which 
is  expected  to  be  allowed  in  the  course  of  the 
coming  month.  With  this  accession,  the  fund  will 
be  more  than  half  a  million  of  dollars  in  excess  of 
the  sum  required  for  the  payment  of  the  Union 
Fund  Loan.  But  under  the  provisions  of  the  Acts 
establishing  this  fund,  its  accumulations,  however 
needless,  must  continue,  unless  the  Legislature 
shall  direct  their  transfer  to  some  other  sinking 
fund  where  they  may  well  be  applied  to  the 
redemption  of  the  public  debt. 

It  is  thus  apparent  that  the  surplusage  from 
these  sources  alone,  viz. :  the  Union  Loan  Sinking 
Fund  and  the  balance  of  the  proceeds  of  the  Coast 


16  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

Defence  Loan  remaining  after  the  creation  of  a 
Coast  Defence  Loan  Sinking  Fund,  as  before  sug- 
gested, together  with  the  amount  to  be  re-imbursed 
by  the  United  States,  cannot  in  all  probability  be 
less  than  one  million  of  dollars,  an  amount  which, 
if  merged  into  a  new  sinking  fund,  would,  with  its 
certain  accumulations,  be  quite  suflSlcient  for  the 
payment,  at  an  early  day,  of  all  the  present  funded 
and  unfunded  liabilities  of  the  Commonwealth  for 
which  no  provision  has  yet  been  made.  I  think  no 
considerate  legislator  can  fail  to  be  impressed  with 
the  fact,  that  if  a  sinking  fund,  embracing  such 
means,  and  pledged  for  such  a  purpose,  were  to  be 
created,  the  financial  interests  of  the  State  and 
of  its  people  would  be  very  materially  and  success- 
fully promoted. 

The    Unfunded  Debt, 
Kepresented    by    temporary  loans 

and  floating  liabilities,  amounted 

on  the  first  of  the  present  month 

to  about, 11,908,120  00 

This  indebtedness  has  accrued  mainly  from  large 
and  necessary  advances  in  excess  of  the  issue  of 
scrip  to  meet  expenses  incurred,  during  the  last 
four  years,  in  the  prosecution  of  the  work  on  the 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  17 

Troy  and  Greenfield  Railroad  and  Hoosac  Tunnel ; 
from  the  re-imbursement  of  aid  furnished  by  cities 
and  towns  to  Massachusetts  volunteers  and  their 
families,  for  which,  in  1864  and  1865,  inade- 
quate provision  was  made  in  the  assessment  of  the 
annual  State  taxes;  from  large  and  liberal  expendi- 
tures authorized  by  acts  of  special  legislation  in 
excess  of  previous  and  well  considered  estimates, 
this  excess  amounting  in  the  year  1867  alone  to 

more  than $844,454  00 

from  the  largely  increased  interest 

on  the  public  debt,  and  from  the 

heavy    premium    on    gold,   the 

former  amounting,  in  1867,  to  .  1,264,592  48 
and  the  latter  to  ...  .  275,933  93 
showing  an  aggregate  of  more  than  two  million 
three  hundred  and  eighty-four  thousand  nine  hun- 
dred and  eighty  dollars. 
As  an  additional  explanation  of  the 

sources  from  which  the  present 

unfunded  liabilities  have  arisen, 

it  may  be  stated  that  the  interest 

accruing  upon  the  various  loans 

of  the   Commonwealth  has   in- 
creased from       ....       1112,773  43 
in  1861,  to 1,264,592  48 

8 


18  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

in  1867  'j  while,  during  the  same 
period,  there  has  been  paid  from 
the  treasury  as  premium  on  gold, 
upwards  of         ....    |1,566,480  70 

the  two  items  of  interest  and  pre- 
mium amounting  to  .         .         .         6,096,977  30 

Of  this  sum  there  has  been  paid  as  interest  on 
temporary  loans,  rendered  imperatively  necessary 
by  the  pressing  exigencies  of  war  and  special  legis- 
lation, not  less  than  $935,793.48,  which,  with  the 
premium  on  gold,  making  an  aggregate  of  $2,494,- 
029.74,  could  not  have  been  anticipated  with  any 
degree  of  accuracy.  Consequently,  this  heavy  and 
extraordinary  outlay  has  been  but  partially  pro- 
vided for  in  the  basis  of  taxation. 

It  should  also  be  remembered  that  the  excep- 
tional or  extraordinary  expenditures  authorized  by 
acts  of  special  legislation,  in  excess  of  previous 
estimates,  amounted,  in  the  years  1865,  1866  and 
1867,  to  $1,290,134.  These  sums  include,  of 
course,  the  additional  cost  of  the  legislative  ses- 
sions, the  compensation  and  expenses  for  which, 
in  1867  alone,  were  upwards  of  $284,800;  also 
the  increase  required  for  the  maintenance  of 
other  departments  and  in  aid  of  numerous  objects, 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  19 

including  among  the  latter,  the  amounts  authorized 
for  remodelling  the  State  House  and  for  other  public 
buildings,  and  for  improvements  in  Boston  Harbor. 
The  last  two  alone  involve  an  expenditure  of  nearly 
half  a  million  dollars  ;  while  the  maximum  esti- 
mate for  special  allowances  provided  for  in  the 
State  tax,  was  less  than  $100,000  (the  estimate  for 
the  Troy  and  Greenfield  Kailroad  and  Hoosac 
Tunnel  being  entirely  excluded  from  this  state- 
ment) . 

Upon  careful  and  critical  investigation  of  the 
whole  subject,  I  suggest  two  methods  for  the 
retirement  or  payment  of  the  existing  unfunded 
loans  and  liabilities,  affording,  at  the  same  time, 
effectual  and  much  needed  relief  from  the  present 
burden  of  taxation. 

One  of  these  is  the  issue  of  a  loan  similar  to  that 
of  1861,  for  funding  the  public  debt,  the  liquida- 
tion of  such  loan  to  be  provided  for  in  the  sinking 
fund  already  proposed  from  the  surplus  accumula- 
tions of  the  funds  heretofore  named.  These  sur- 
plus amounts  will  readily  furnish  sufficient  means 
for  a  sinking  fund,  which,  with  reasonable  income 
from  investment,  will  secure  the  redemption  of  at 
least  three  millions  of  scrip  within  the  ordinary 
limit  of  maturity. 


20  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

The  other  method  of  relief  is  the  issue  of  the 
balance  of  scrip,  amounting  to  $479,320,  authorized 
by  the  provisions  of  chapter  226  of  the  Acts  of 
1854,  and  by  subsequent  Acts,  for  the  construction 
and  completion  of  the  Troy  and  Greenfield  Rail- 
road and  Hoosac  Tunnel.  Should  this  course  be 
adopted,  I  recommend  an  addition  to  the  amount  by 
Buch  further  issue  of  scrip  on  the  same  account,  in 
accordance  with  the  provisions  of  chapter  304  of 
the  Acts  of  1867,  as  may  be  necessary  to  absorb 
that  portion  of  the  unfunded  debt,  now  amounting 
to  $2,300,000,  which  has  accrued  from  advances  in 
excess  of  former  issues  of  scrip  in  aid  of  this 
enterprise  ;  such  further  issue  to  include  also  what- 
ever appropriation  the  Legislature  shall  see  fit  to 
make  in  this  behalf  for  the  present  year. 

The  liquidation  at  maturity  of  a  loan  of  this 
character  may  be  easily  provided  for  in  the  Troy 
and  Greenfield  Railroad  Loan  Sinking  Fund 
already  recommended.  With  the  requisite  legis- 
lation authorizing  the  Treasurer  and  Receiver- 
General  to  issue  such  scrip  under  the  direction  of 
the  Governor  and  Council,  the  Ordinary  Revenue  of 
the  Commonwealth,  from  which  such  large  advances 
have  been  made  for  this  work,  may  be  re-imbursed, 
and  the  amount,  thus  restored  to  its  original  and 


1868.]  SENATE— Xo.  1.  21 

legitimate  use  may  be  applied  to  the  payment  of 
ordinary  expenses,  obviating  thereby  necessity  for 
heavy  taxation. 

Of  the  practicability  of  either  of  these  methods 
of  relief,  there  would  seem  to  be  no  question.  The 
adoption  of  one  or  the  other  must  be  effectual  in 
the  restoration  of  two  or  three  millions  of  dollars, 
which  the  necessities  of  the  last  four  years  have 
diverted  from  the  ordinary  uses  of  the  government  ; 
while,  with  the  aid. most  certain  to  accrue  from  such 
restoration  to  the  treasury,  together  with  the  usual 
ordinary  resources  of  the  Commonwealth,  swelling 
up  an  aggregate  of  more  than  three  millions  of 
dollars,  it  can  hardly  be  possible  that  the  expendi- 
tures of  the  current  year  will  require  a  State  tax 
exceeding  two  millions  of  dollars. 

I  have  all  the  more  confidence  in  the  realization 
of  this  result,  in  the  assurance  that  a  loan  author- 
ized upon  the  basis  proposed  will  command 
approval  and  favorable  negotiation;  nor  will  it 
increase  the  'funded  debt  of  the  Commonwealth, 
since,  during  the  present  year,  a  large  portion  of 
the  Western  Railroad  Loan  will  mature  and  be 
paid,  as  Avill  also  instalments  of  the  Northampton 
Lunatic  Hospital  Loan  and  of  the  Five  and  Six 
Per  Cent.   Loans  of  1861,  for  all  of  which  pro- 


22  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

vision  is  made,  the  cash  on  hand  in  the  treasury 
being  applicable  to  the  payment  of  the  last  two. 
"With  the  proceeds  of  the  loan  recommended, 
estimated  at  only  two  millions,  together  with  the 
ordinary  revenue  of  the  year,  say  one  million  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  a  State  tax  of  two 
millions,  with  such  portion  of  the  cash  on  hand  as 
may  be  made  applicable  to  the  payment  of  current 
expenses,  the  whole  amounting  to  upwards  of  five 
millions  of  dollars,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  treasury 
will  be  ftilly  supplied  with  means  with  which  to 
meet  all  estimated  ordinary  expenditure. 

THE   STATE    CHARITIES. 

In  company  with  the  Executive  Council  I  have 
visited  the  several  institutions  of  public  charity  as 
often  as  ofiicial  business  would  pemiit,  and  I  take 
pleasure  in  commending  their  appearance  and 
general  management.  The  unceasing  injunctions 
to  economy  and  retrenchment,  proceeding  from 
the  Executive  department,  and  from  their  own 
immediate  supervisors,  have  been  scrupulously 
regarded ;  and  till  prices  regain  their  former  level 
but  little  more  can  be  expected,  or  in  justice  to  the 
inmates  should  be  required,  in  the  reduction  of 
expenditure,   except  through  unceasing  vigilance 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  23 

in  removing  at  once  those  who  are  not  justly 
chargeable  to  the  Commonwealth.  And  this 
policy  is  insisted  upon,  not  from  motives  of 
economy  alone,  though  it  is  the  safety-valve  of 
our  whole  system,  but  on  the  broad  ground  of  that 
comprehensive  humanity  which  recognizes  the 
assurance  of  an  acknowledged  and  permanent 
home,  in  case  of  disability,  as  the  truest  interest 
and  safest  protection  of  the  poor.  Few  of  our 
people  know  and  still  fewer  appreciate  the  force  of 
the  fact  that  the  number  of  lunatics  and  paupers 
we  annually  remove  from  the  State  is  equal  to 
the  average  number  we  support,  and  that  any 
omission  or  relaxation  of  effort  in  this  direction 
would  not  only  nearly  double  our  outlay  for  cur- 
rent expenses,  but  would  cause  a  demand  at  once 
for  new  buildings  and  their  costly  equipment.  For 
the  year  1867,  the  average  number  of  State 
paupers  in  the  almshouses,  including  the  inmates 
of  the  Slate  Workhouse  and  Primary  School,  has 
been  1,717,  maintained  at  a  cost  of  about  |165,000 ; 
and  of  lunatics  supported  by  the  State  in  the 
hospitals,  a  little  over  500,  costing  f 95,000  more; 
yet  during  the  same  period  2,149  have  been 
removed  from  the  Commonwealth  at  a  cost  of  less 
than  $10,000.     The  whole  number  of  these  classes 


24  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

removed  since  1857  is  about  20,000,  and  the  direct 
consequences  have  been  that  no  more  public  insti- 
tutions have  been  estabUshed,  but  that  one  of 
those  then  existing  has  been  closed;  that  the  aver- 
age number  of  paupers  supported  in  the  State 
Almshouses  has  been  reduced  from  2,294  in  1856, 
to  1,717  in  1867,  a  decrease  of  577,  or  25  per  cent. ; 
and  their  cost  from  $173,000  in  gold  in  1856,  to 
$165,000  in  currency  in  1867 ;  that  the  number  of 
State  lunatics,  notwithstanding  the  large  access 
chargeable  to  the  rebellion,  has  not  materially 
increased,  and  will  soon  fall  below  the  number  of 
twelve  years  ago;  and  that  the  entire  net  cost  of 
our  State  paupers  proper,  that  is,  those  supported 
in  the  State  Almshouses  and  Lunatic  Hospitals, 
and  relieved  or  buried  by  the  cities  and  towns,  does 
not  exceed  $280,000  for  the  present  year.  That 
system  surely  must  have  some  efficiency  which  has 
met  the  results  of  twelve  years'  growth  in  popula- 
tion, encountered  the  obstacles  arising  from  civil 
war  and  the  derangement  of  the  currency,  and 
brought  us  through  all  so  successfully  that  its 
actual  cost  in  gold  for  the  year  just  expired  is  less 
by  many  thousands  than  in  1855. 

The  classification  of  the  inmates  of  the  State 
Almshouses,  designated  by  law  and  put  in  force  in 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  25 

the  Autumn  of  1866,  continues  to  work  well  in 
practice.  In  these  Institutions  we  have  now  four 
classes  of  persons :  1st,  the  chronic  insane  and  the 
imbecile,  numbering  about  275  ;  2d,  those  entering 
the  Almshouses  from  poverty  induced  by  their  own 
vicious  indulgences,  and  sentenced  to  the  State 
Workhouse,  now  averaging  about  225  ;  3d,  the 
children  at  the  Primary  School,  numbering  upwards 
of  400  ;  and  4:th,  the  paupers  proper,  of  whom 
we  have  supported  an  average  of  between  700  and 
800.  This  classification  is  not  yet  completed,  but 
it  is  surely  if  slowly  progressing,  and  we  shall  soon 
have  virtually  in  place  of  the  foui'  pauper  establish- 
ments, one  State  Almshouse,  one  Asylum  for  the 
Insane,  one  penal  and  one  educational  institution, 
containing  together  fewer  inmates,  and  maintained 
at  considerably  less  expense  than  under  the  former 
plan.  That  no  inconvenience  may  befall  the  towns 
in  the  Southern  and  Western  sections  of  the  State, 
temporary  accommodations  are  provided  at  Bridge- 
water  and  Monson,  for  the  few  paupers  they  may 
have  occasion  to  send  thither.  The  object  of  this 
classification,  is  to  separate  the  virtuous  poor  and 
especially  the  children  from  contact  with  the 
vicious,  to  give  the  children  proper  instruction,  and 

to  place  them  as  soon  as  possible  in  suitable  families, 

i 


26  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

to  the  end  that  in  social  relations  and  the  public 
school  they  may  forget  their  pauperism.  And  the 
design  of  our  whole  system  of  charities,  as  admin- 
istered by  its  supervising  Board,  I  conceive  to  be 
the  retaining  of  every  person,  as  far  as  may  be,  in 
his  natural  condition  in  society  ;  if  he  loses  it,  his 
restoration  thereto  at  the  earliest  moment ;  if  by 
infirmity  of  body  or  mind  he  cannot  regain  it,  his 
support  by  local  means  in  that  manner  which 
shall  most  nearly  approach  it  in  the  vicinity  of  his 
friends,  and  among  familiar  associations.  Failing 
all  this,  the  maintenance  of  a  comfortable  Alms- 
house for  the  honest  poor, — whence  strangers  shall 
be  sent  promptly  to  their  homes  in  other  commu- 
nities— and  of  a  house  of  toil  for  the  vicious,  who 
shall  there  be  taught  that  they  cannot  prey  with 
impunity  on  the  earnings  of  honorable  labor.  These 
principles  seem  sound  in  theory,  practicable  in 
execution,  conducive  to  the  greatest  happiness  of 
our  dependent  classes,  and  likely  to  promote  a 
judicious  economy. 

The  closing  of  the  Hospital  at  Rainsford  Island, 
which  was  finally  accomplished  one  year  ago,  has 
resulted  most  advantageously  to  the  State.  There 
has  been  no  increase  of  admissions  to  the  other 
institutions  by  reason  thereof,  and  its  disuse  has 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  27 

occasioned  no  embarrassment  whatsoever.  The 
really  sick,  who  would  ordinarily  have  been  sent 
thither,  have  been  provided  for  by  the  authorities 
of  Boston,  and  the  cost  of  this  provision,  with  the 
entire  outlay  for  the  salary  of  the  Superintendent, 
and  necessary  repairs,  falls  short  of  $8,000;  while, 
previous  to  the  adoption  of  this  policy,  the  expen- 
ditures at  the  island  averaged  some  $30,000  a  year. 
The  Lunatic  Hospitals  have  been  managed  with 
their  usual  efficiency,  and  present  no  noticeable 
feature,  unless  it  be  the  extraordinary  increase  of 
the  admissions  from  the  general  population,  which 
have  risen  from  508  in  1865  to  662  m  1867.  Their 
cost  to  the  Commonwealth  varies  with  the  number 
of  State  Lunatic  paupers,  and  with  the  rate  of 
board,  which  is  fixed  yearly  by  the  Legislature. 
At  the  present  time  the  number  of  State  Lunatics 
is  510,  the  price  of  board  $3.50  per  week,  and  the 
annual  cost  about  $93,000.  The  necessity  for  an 
additional  Hospital,  which  seemed  at  one  time 
inevitable,  has  been  averted  by  removals  from  the 
State  and  by  the  establishment  of  the  Asylum  at 
Tewksbury,  whither  the  surplus  of  the  harmless 
incurables  is  transferred,  and  Avhere  they  are 
kindly  cared  for. 


28  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

All  these  institutions  have  been  carefully  super- 
vised by  the  Board  of  State  Charities,  whose  offi- 
cers have  examined  and  removed  their  inmates, 
looked  after  the  immigration  into  the  Common- 
wealth, executed  the  laws  of  settlement,  and  per- 
formed the  other  manifold  duties  assigned  by 
statute  to  this  Board.  They  have  met  all  their 
expenses  for  the  year  from  their  receipts,  and  have 
paid  into  the  treasury  a  surplus  of  over  $5,000. 

Institutions  of  Private  Charities.  • 
For  the  condition  and  progress  of  the  several 
Institutions  of  Charity  aided  by  the  State,  to  an 
amount  exceeding  in  the  aggregate  $80,000,  which 
might  perhaps  be  judiciously  lessened,  I  must 
refer  you,  with  a  single  exception,  to  their  Annual 
Reports. 

COKRECTIOIirS    Ain>    EEFOKMS. 

The  State  Pi^ison. 
I  am  happy  to  state  that  the  sudden  increase 
of  crime  co-incident  with  the  close  of  the  civil 
war  has  at  last  culminated,  and  that  a  sure  but 
steady  decrease  has  begun.  The  number  of  com- 
mitments to  the  State  Prison  the  past  year  was  128, 
being  less  than  the  average  of  38  years,  whereas  in 
1866  it  was  247.     The  expiration  of  contracts  for 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  29 

labor,  and  their  renewal  at  prices  comparatively 
remunerative,  have  wrought  an  entire  change  in 
the  finances  of  the  prison,  which  during  the  past 
year  has  earned  about  $21,000  over  all  expenses. 
The  kindly  interest  of  the  excellent  warden,  mani- 
fested in  so  many  efforts  for  the  encouragement  of 
the  prisoners  to  walk  in  the  better  way,  and  for 
their  intellectual  and  moral  culture,  has  not  passed 
unnoticed.  It  is  due  to  him  to  say  that  he  enjoys, 
as  he  merits,  my  entire  confidence. 

Institutions  of  Reform. 
The  institutions  of  juvenile  reform  are  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Nautical  School,  the  State  Reform 
School  for  boys  at  "Westborough,  and  the  State 
Industrial  School  for  girls  at  Lancaster.  The 
average  number  in  these  reformatories  was  687  in 
1866  and  752  in  1867.  Their  expenses  for  the 
past  year  are  more  than  $140,000,  an  excess  of  at 
least  $20,000  over  the  outlay  of  the  previous  year. 
This  increase  of  juvenile  offenders,  not  only  in  our 
institutions  where  it  is  limited  by  the  insufficient 
accommodations,  but  throughout  the  community, 
as  well  as  this  fast  growing  expenditure,  is  calcu- 
lated to  excite  our  serious  alarm.  Already  the 
inmates  of  these  schools  approximate  in  number  to 


80  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

the  aggregate  of  our  State  paupers  proper,  and 
exhibit  an  average  cost  for  each  pupil  nearly  twice 
as  large.  It  may  well  be  considered  whether  there 
is  not  something  radically  unsound  in  our  modes  of 
dealing  with  a  question  so  vital  to  every  community 
as  the  preservation  of  the  morals  of  its  youth;  and 
whether  a  portion  of  the  large  and  annually  growing 
«um  demanded  for  the  cure  of  a  disease  already  pro- 
gressed so  far,  might  not  be  expended  more  profita- 
bly in  efforts  for  its  prevention.  It  is  also  worthy 
of  inquiry  whether  the  inmates  of  these  establish- 
ments perform  an  amount  of  labor  proportionate  to 
their  age  and  productive  capacities.  Though  of 
slight  consequence  to  the  State  in  the  way  of  re- 
imbursement, this  is  of  infinite  importance  to  them- 
selves for  the  preservation  of  health  and  for 
acquiring  power  of  application  and  the  habit  of 
daily  toil.  I  am  impressed  with  the  conviction  that 
we  should  advance  no  further  in  providing  for  this 
class  of  offenders  at  the  expense  of  the  State,  either 
by  creating  a  new  establishment,  or  enlarging  any 
one  existing;  and  that,  like  other  petty  criminals, 
these  should  be  dealt  with  by  the  local  authorities, 
who  are  quite  as  likely  to  understand  their  indi- 
vidual peculiarities,  and  to  manage  them  with  good 
judgment,  economy  and  humanity. 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  31 

THE   CLARKE   INSTITUTION    FOR  DEAF  MUTES. 

In  my  last  annual  message  I  had  the  honor  to 
recommend  that  provision  be  made  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  deaf  mutes  of  the  Commonwealth, 
within  our  limits,  and  to  add  my  conviction  that 
legislative  action  in  this  direction  would  develop 
rich  sources  of  private  beneficence.  In  response 
to  this  suggestion,  the  Legislature  granted  an  Act 
of  incorporation  to  the  Clarke  Institution  for  Deaf 
Mutes,  located  at  IS^orthampton,  which  was  organ- 
ized in  July  last,  and  was  formally  opened  for  the 
purposes  of  instruction  on  the  first  day  of  October. 

My  anticipations  of  private  assistance  were 
speedily  realized;  and  to  a  venerable  citizen  of  the 
Commonwealth,  whose  name  the  Institution  most 
appropriately  bears,  it  is  indebted  for  the  most 
liberal  endowment  ever  made  to  a  similar  insti- 
tution upon  this  continent.  In  coming  years, 
when  we  shall  have  passed  away,  and  our  agency 
in  this  labor  of  love  shall  have  been  forgotten, 
successive  generations  of  the  silent  restored  to 
speech  will  articulate  with  gratitude  the  name  of 
John  Clarke,  of  ^tsTorthampton,  who,  in  faith,  hope 
and  charity,  has  devoted  so  large  a  portion  of  the 
accumulation  of  a  life  of  honorable  industry  to  a 
work  of  Christian  philanthropy.     I  have  no  doubt 


32  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

that  other  generous  citizens  of  the  Commonwealth 
will  respond  to  this  act  of  munificence,  and  that 
before  many  years  shall  have  elapsed,  no  child  of 
Massachusetts  will  be  compelled  to  seek  the  means 
of  instruction  beyond  her  limits.  In  company 
with  members  of  the  Executive  Council  and 
several  officers  of  the  State,  I  have  recently  visited 
this  school,  which,  in  recognition  of  her  self-sacri- 
ficing devotion  to  this  class  of  unfortunates,  has 
been  intrusted  to  an  enthusiastic  and  experienced 
teacher,  Harriet  B.  Rogers. 

Although  the  school  had  been  in  operation  but 
a  few  weeks,  the  progress  of  the  pupils  was  not 
only  satisfactory  in  the  highest  degree,  but  excited 
the  admiration  of  experienced  instructors  among 
the  visitors.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  urging  the 
Legislature  to  cherish  it  kindly;  to  remove  grad- 
ually such  restrictions  in  regard  to  age  or  contin- 
uance of  study  as  a  Avise  caution  has  at  first 
thrown  around  them;  and  to  assign  to  it  such  an 
increased  proportion  of  the  usual  appropriation  for 
deaf  mutes  as  its  growing  numbers  may  require, 
beyond  the  income  of  its  endowment.  In  view 
of  the  fact  that  it  is  an  educational  institution, 
and  on  that  ground  is  intrusted  to  the  super- 
vision of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  because  it 


1868.]  SENATE— ;^o.  1.  33 

is  the  duty  of  the  Commonwealth  to  furnish  to  all 
its  children  an  education  at  the  public  expense,  I 
suggest  that  future  appropriations  for  its  aid  be 
drawn  from  the  school  fund  of  Massachusetts,  to 
the  end  that  compliance  with  a  public  right  may 
not  be  accounted  as  public  charity. 

THE   LAWS   OF   SETTLEMENT. 

For  some  years  past  urgent  representations  have 
been  made,  not  only  by  men  of  philanthropic 
instincts,  but  of  practical  knowledge  and  expe- 
rience, that  the  Laws  of  Settlement  of  this  Com- 
monwealth are  neither  in  accordance  with  the 
spirit  of  the  age  nor  adapted  to  the  present 
constitution  of  our  society. 

The  right  of  settlement  or  legal  residence  seems 
to  be  based  on  the  theory  that  contribution  by  an 
individual  to  the  public  wealth  or  welfare,  and 
bearing  for  a  specified  period  his  proportion  of 
the  common  burdens,  should  entitle  himself,  his 
family  and  posterity  to  public  aid  or  support  in 
the  days  of  their  disability.  It  is  a  species  of 
mutual  insurance  interwoven  in  the  social  com- 
pact, and  no  disgrace  can  properly  attach  to  the 
enjoyment  of  its  benefits,  unless  the  disability 
proceed  from   an   unworthy   cause.     Our  earliest 

5 


84  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

settlers  brought  with  them  from  the  mother 
country  this  familiar  institution,  and  speedily 
provided  for  it  in  colonial  and  provincial  laws.  As 
in  a  new  countiy  interest  and  policy  demanded  the 
ready  acquisition  of  all  the  rights  of  domicile  and 
citizenship  they  ordained,  as  the  condition  of  settle- 
ment in  a  town,  at  first  three  months'  and  afterward 
one  year's  residence  of  the  individual  without 
being  "warned  out"  of  its  limits,  or  receiving 
public  assistance  during  that  period.  And  this 
settlement  once  gained  in  any  town  withm  the 
colony  or  province  was  never  to  be  defeated  or 
lost,  save  by  the  gaining  of  a  new  settlement  in 
some  other  town  in  the  same  colony  or  province. 

I  am  informed  that,  as  early  as  1639,  provision 
was  made  for  lawfully  settling  all  poor  and  unset- 
tled persons,  and  that  the  first  instance  of  State 
pauperism,  so  called,  mentioned  in  the  history  of 
Massachusetts  occurred  in  the  time  of  King 
Philip's  war  when  the  ruined  and  houseless  in- 
habitants of  the  ravaged  districts  were  distributed 
by  the  General  Court  for  maintenance  among  other 
towns  of  the  colony.  So  early  did  our  forefathers 
initiate  the  principle  which  has  nearly  ever  since 
pervaded  the  legislation  of  Massachusetts  on  this 
subject,   and    which,    in    my    judgment,    can    be 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  35 

extended  yet  farther  with  advantage, — that  it  is 
better  that  paupers  should  be  chargeable  upon 
towns  than  upon  the .  State.  But  after  the  lapse 
of  a  hundred  and  fifty  years,  a  denser  and  more 
varied  population  and  the  upheaving  of  ancient 
landmarks  by  the  Revolutionary  war  induced  a 
change,  and  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  /  century 
ago  new  and  more  stringent  regulations  were 
adopted;  borrowed  in  the  main  from  the  English 
code,  and  constituting  substantially  our  present 
system.  The  principal  requisitions  to  settlement 
are  now  residence  for  ten  successive  years  without 
receiving  public  aid,  with  the  payment  of  all  taxes 
assessed  for  State,  county  or  town  purposes  for 
any  five  years  during  that  time,  or  the  residing 
upon  one's  own  real  estate  for  three  successive 
years, — the  party  always  being  a  citizen  and  of 
lawful  age.  These  conditions  might  have  been 
well  suited  to  the  needs  of  an  agricultural  and 
commercial  population,  secure  in  its  own  perma- 
nence. But  the  progress  of  manufactures  among 
us  has  developed  new  and  unforeseen  relations 
towards  our  countrymen  from  other  States,  while 
Immigration  has  imposed  new  duties  toward  our 
brethren  from  other  lands.  Both  classes,  seeking 
homes  among  us,  have  added  largely  to  our  pro- 


86  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

ductive  energies  and  material  wealth*;  but  for  both, 
the  conditions  of  acquiring  settlement  are  far  too 
onerous.  Compelled  to  follow  the  ebb  and  flow  of 
the  demand  for  labor,  they  can  hardly  maintain  an 
uninterrupted  residence  of  ten  years  in  a  single 
town;  or,  if  perchance  they  accomplish  it,  some 
wary  official  will  omit  to  assess  them  for  the  fifth 
time,  or  abate  a  tax  with  ready  lenity.  Large 
numbers  are  thus,  in  ignorance  of  their  rights, 
deprived  of  the  residence  they  are  on  the  point  of 
acquiring, — and  after  a  sober  and  industrious  life, 
in  the  infirmity  of  age,  are  given  over  to  a  State 
Almshouse.  Meanwhile  our  permanent  and  settled 
population  has  been  gradually  and  surely  decreas- 
ing, its  young  men  having  removed  southward  and 
westward,  and  peopled  new  States  from  the  loins 
of  Massachusetts.  And  so  far  has  this  process 
advanced  of  rapid  decrease  and  slow  increase  of 
settled  residents  that  competent  judges  avow  their 
conviction  that  already  our  settled  poijulation  num- 
bers less  than  one-half  of  the  people  of  the  State. 

Thus  we  are  steadily  departing  from  the  wise 
policy  of  our  fathers, — by  insisting  on  these  rigid 
regulations,  when  the  century  that  gave  birth  to 
them  has  passed  away,  and  in  declining  to  recog- 
nize the   changed    circumstances   of   a  new   era. 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  37 

"We  are  sundering  localities.  "We  are  destroying 
the  family  relation,  breaking  up  and  dispersing 
households  perhaps  never  to  meet  again.  We  are 
multiplying  the  number  of  juvenile  offenders, 
whose  disposal  and  management  are  already  a 
problem  that  puzzles  our  wisest  and  most  experi- 
enced men.  We  are  depriving  communities  of 
labor,  that  should  be  as  permanent  and  available 
as  the  natural  laws  of  supply  and  demand  will 
allow.  We  are  aggregating  our  poor  in  huge 
institutions,  intensifying  every  defect,  and  violat- 
ing sanitary  laws.  We  are  destroying  all  their 
ambition,  demoralizing  and  permanently  pauper- 
izing them.  In  short,  we  are  infringing  just 
principles  of  political  economy  and  piling  up  a 
huge  burden  for  the  finances  of  the  State. 

Moved  by  these  pressing  representations  of 
thoughtful,  humane  and  experienced  men,  I  was 
induced  to  give  the  subject  such  investigation 
as  I  was  able,  but  soon  discovered  that  a  far-seeing 
and  true-hearted  man  had  trodden  the  path  before 
me.  In  his  last  annual  message  Governor  Andrew 
earnestly  advised  a  revision  of  the  laws  of  settle- 
ment and  proposed  specific  additions.  These,  I 
regret  to  say,  were  with  one  exception  defeated 
in  Committee,  on  the  ground  that  the    present 


38  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

statutes  had  been  thoroughly  adjudicated  and  that 
any  change  would  give  rise  to  embarrassing  litiga- 
tion. But  I  concur  entirely  with  my  predecessor 
that  decisions  and  precedents  and  reverence  for 
ancient  forms  of  law  must  not  stand  in  the  way  of 
sound  political  economy,  humanity  and  morality. 
I  have  therefore  the  honor  to  renew  most  of  his 
suggestions,  with  others  which  farther  inquiry  has 
developed,  and  bespeak  for  them  your  earnest 
consideration.  It  will  be  observed  that  these 
propositions  point  rather  to  an  extension  than  an 
alteration  of  the  present  statutes,  and  are  not 
likely  to  provoke  any  serious  litigation.  . 

1.  Aliens,  having  completed  all  the  other  condi- 
tions of  settlement,  except  the  act  of  naturaliza- 
tion, shall  enjoy  the  same  privileges  in  that  regard 
as  the  native  born.  If  the  theory  is  correct  that 
service  rendered  should  entitle  to  legal  residence, 
no  accidents  of  birth  or  color  or  race  or  sex  should 
bar  any  from  equal  rights  of  acquisition  and 
enjoyment.  In  limiting  this  privilege  to  citizens 
Massachusetts  stands  almost  if  not  entirely  alone 
among  the  States.  This  should  no  longer  be  per- 
mitted. In  her  justice  and  her  charity  she  should 
recognize  no  frontiers  but  those  of  humanity  itself. 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  3^ 

2.  A  method  should  be  provided  whereby  suigle 
women  may  gain  a  settlement.  After  useful  and 
guileless  lives  of  industry  and  self-sacrifice,  we 
should  not  permit  them  in  their  advancing  age 
and  infinnity  to  be  torn  away  from  the  friends 
and  associations  and  homes  of  half  a  century,  to 
linger  out  the  remnant  in  a  State  Almshouse. 

3.  Cities  and  towns  should  be  prohibited  under 
penalty  from  sending  to  a  State  Almshouse,  or 
otherwise  charging  upon  the  Commonwealth,  any 
person  whose  paternal  settlement  is  obscure,  but 
who  has  a  well  known  maternal  settlement.  I  am 
assured  by  the  officers  of  our  charities  that  the 
rights  of  citizens,  in  this  respect,  are  not  suffi- 
ciently protected  by  the   Statutes. 

4.  I  recommend  careful  inquiry  whether  the  pre- 
requisite of  ten  years'  continuous  residence  may 
not  safely  be  reduced  at  least  to  the  maximum 
of  the  neighboring  States.  Maine  requires  but  five 
years'  residence,  'New  York  but  one,  and,  if  my 
information  is  correct,  the  maximum  of  the  others 
is  seven.  And  further,  I  suggest  whether  asses- 
sors shall  be  permitted  to  prevent  the  acquisition 
of  a  settlement  by  omission  to  impose  a  tax,  or 
abatement  of  any  already   laid.     I  cannot    doubt 


40  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

that  a  great  amount  of  hardship  will  be  averted 
by  these  two  changes  alone. 

5.  I  earnestly  recommend  a  thorough  investi- 
gation of  the  expediency  of  encouraging  the  towns 
to  assist  at  home  worthy  and  industrious  families 
which  have  no  settlement,  with  a  partial  or  full 
re-imbursement  from  the  State,  in  the  same  man- 
ner and  under  the  same  supervision  as  that  now 
adopted  for  the  relief  of  the  sick  poor  therein. 
It  is  clear  to  my  apprehension  that  the  grant  of 
a  little  temporary  aid,  in  the  way  of  fuel  or  sup- 
plies, may  save  the  maintenance  of  the  entire 
household  for  months  in  a  pubhc  institution. 

6.  And  finally  I  have  to  'call  the  attention  of 
the  Legislature  to  a  remarkable  anomaly,  which 
requires  their  immediate  interference  for  the  pro- 
tection of  our  own  tax-payers.  "While  our  settled 
residents  number  only  a  few  hundred  thousand, 
we  are  yet,  by  our  own  laws,  responsible  for  the 
support  of  all  the  descendants  of  every  man  and 
woman  who  has  ever  gained  or  derived  a  settle- 
ment within  our  limits,  who  must  surely  be  counted 
by  millions.  'No  matter  if  centuries  have  elapsed 
since  one  of  the  family  set  foot  on  our  soil,  the 
obligation  is  still  the  same,  and  wherever  they 
may  be  scattered  over  the  face  of  the  earth,  their 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  41 

sick,  their  insane,  their  defectives,  their  paupers 
may  return  to  Massachusetts  to  be  supported  by 
the  town  of  original  settlement.  And  although 
they  may  have  acquired  a  subsequent  settlement 
in  another  State,  in  towns  where  they  will  be 
acknowledged  and  provided  for,  yet  our  own 
Statutes,  as  the  Attorney-General  informs  us  in  a 
most  elaborate  and  able  treatise,  forbid  us  to 
remove  them  except  with  their  free  consent. 
Two  or  three  illustrations  will  suflS.ce.  One  hun- 
dred years  ago  a  resident  of  a  small  town  in  the 
comity  of  "Worcester  whose  political  sentiments 
according  to  tradition  were  obnoxious  to  his  fel- 
low-citizens emigrated  to  a  neighboring  State, 
where  he  lived  and  died,  and  his  descendants  after 
him  to  the  fourth  generation,  all  having  settlements 
in  that  State,  and  nearly  all  being  owners  of  the 
soil.  A  few  years  since  one  of  his  great-grand- 
sons returned  to  Massachusetts,  became  insane, 
and  was  sent  to  a  Lunatic  Hospital  at  a  cost  to  the 
small  town  above  named,  whence  his  ancestor 
originated,  of  about  twelve  hundred  dollars  up  to 
this  time,  and  of  two  hundred  dollars  a  year,  in 
addition,  as  long  as  he  may  live.  He  cannot 
legally  be  returned  to  his  own  birthplace  and  the 
home  of  his  fathers  for  four  generations.    About 

6 


42  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

1743  a  family  left  a  small  town  in  the  county  of 
Bristol  and  gained  settlements  successively  in 
three  other  Kew  England  States,  never  returning 
to  reside  in  Massachusetts.  One  hundred  and 
eighteen  years  afterward  four  idiot  members  of 
this  family  were  returned  to  this  State  to  be  sup- 
ported by  the  ancestral  town  at  an  expense  of 
not  less  than  six  hundred  dollars  a  year.  A  town 
in  the  county  of  [N^orfolk,  by  virtue  of  an  ances- 
tral settlement,  is  now  compelled  to  support  a 
lunatic  who  escaped  a  few  months  since  from  the 
Almshouse  of  his  native  city,  where  his  legal  res- 
idence is  undis23uted.  It  is  just  that  our  people 
should  be  relieved  of  these  burdens,  which  no 
other  State  imposes  on  its  citizens.  And  I  there- 
fore recommend  the  early  adoption  of  a  provision 
allowing  such  persons  to  be  returned  to  the  place 
of  subsequent  settlement. 

Aware  of  my  inability  to  treat,  as  it  deserves, 
a  subject  so  intricate  and  delicate,  I  trust  that  I 
have  said  enough  to  induce  at  least  the  initia- 
tion in  this  Legislature  of  a  more  liberal  policy 
toward  our  industrial  classes. 

In  view  of  the  importance  of  friendly  and  harmo- 
nious legislation  on  immigration,  pauperism  and 
settlement    throughout    'New    England,    I   have 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  48 

authorized  the  officers  of  our  charities  to  confer 
with  the  Executives  or  Legislatures  of  the  other 
States,  and  to  take  measures,  if  possible,  to  secure 
it.  'New  Hampshire  has  already  responded  by 
Resolution  of  her  Legislature,  and  I  should  be 
gratified  if  our  own  would  formally  sanction  the 
individual  action  of  her  Executive  authorities. 

THE   MILITIA. 

The  number  of  men  present  at  the  last  fall 
encampments  of  the  "Volunteer  militia  was  five 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty-three;  an 
increase  from  the  attendance  in  the  previous  year 
of  nearly  seven  hundred.  It  is  my  opportimity 
and  pleasui'e  to  assure  you,  from  my  personal 
observation,  that  the  appearance  and  service  of 
the  force  during  the  five  days  of  camp  duty  were 
in  the  highest  degree  creditable.  One-third  of  the 
present  number  of  enrolled  men  have  served  the 
United  States  in  the  recent  war,  and  their  cheer- 
ful enlistment  into  our  volunteer  companies  enti- 
tles them  to  the  grateful  appreciation  of  all 
citizens.  The  laws  relating  to  our  military  system, 
as  they  stand  since  the  amendments  made  by  the 
last  Legislature,  work  apparently  well,  and  no 
essential  revision  appears  to  be  necessary. 


44  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

The  change  of  the  period  of  camp  service,  from 
three  days  to  five,  has  in  the  single  experiment 
made  under  it  manifested  most  satisfactory  results. 
Upon  a  recent  occasion  of  popular  demonstration 
towards  a  distinguished  ofl&cer  of  the  army  of  the 
United  States,  Major  General  Sheridan,  nearly  five 
thousand  of  these  men,  of  their  own  volition  and 
without  pay,  performed  the  duty  of  escort;  and  I 
do  not  speak  with  language  of  extravagance  in 
saying  that  never  before  has  the  militia  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, by  a  thoroughness  of  discipline  and 
practice,  and  an  entire  absence  of  ostentation,  so 
well  justified  to  every  observer  the  expenditure 
necessary  to  maintain  this  organization  for  our 
protection  and  defence. 

The  number  of  companies  which  now  constitute 
this  arm  of  the  public  service  comprises  ninety- 
two  of  Infantry,  six  of  Cavalry,  and  four  of  Artil- 
lery. The  amount  expended  for  military  bounties 
and  for  armories  has  been  nearly  ten  thousand 
dollars  below  the  appropriations  made  by  the  last 
General  Court. 

The  annual  cost  of  maintaining  such  a  force  as 
the  present,  under  existing  laws,  is  not  far  from 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  However 
large  this   sum  may   appear,  it   is  my  deliberate 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  45 

judgment,  formed  in  the  light  of  the  lessons  of 
experience,  and  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the 
present  admirable  condition  of  the  force,  that  no 
item  of  public  expenditure  is  better  justified  than 
this.  I  challenge  comparison  from  all  the  States 
of  an  equal  amount  expended  and  an  equal  array 
of  results  accomplished. 

The  public  stores  in  the  arsenal  at  Cambridge 
are  now  in  excellent  condition,  and  it  will  be  the 
pleasure  of  the  patriotic  officer  in  charge  to  exhibit 
the  buildings  and  military  material  at  any  time 
to  the  members  of  the  General  Court. 

TROT    Amy    GREEKPIELD    RAILROAD    Amy    HOOSAO 

TUtiTNEL. 

In  my  communication  to  the  Legislature  one  year 
ago  I  stated  that  under  direction  of  Chapter  two 
himdred  and  ninety-three  of  the  Acts  of  1866  the 
construction  of  the  railroad  between  Greenfield  and 
the  Tunnel  had  been  contracted  for,  and  that  a  lease 
of  the  same  had  been  executed  under  the  approval 
of  the  Executive  Council.  The  road  has  now  been 
completed  as  far  as  Shelbume  Falls,  a  distance  of 
thirteen  miles,  and  the  corporations,  lessees,  have 
commenced  the  running  of  regular  trains.  It  was 
formally  opened  two  months  ago,  and  the  great 


46  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

attendance  of  people,  and  the  deep  interest  mani- 
fested by  them  in  the  first  advent  of  the  locomotive 
into  the  valley  of  the  Deerfield,  afforded  striking 
proof  of  the  value  fixed  by  the  whole  population  of 
the  JSTorth- Western  portion  of  the  State  upon  their 
new  connection  with  general  commerce.  The 
remaining  portion  of  the  fine,  extending  from  the 
Falls  to  the  mountain,  seventeen  miles  in  length, 
will  be  finished  in  the  next  summer,  and  will  con- 
stitute the  completion  of  a  road  of  thirty  miles, 
built  at  a  fair  cost  and  holding  a  strong  relation  to 
the  interests  of  the  whole  public. 

The  progress  of  the  work  upon  the  Tunnel  itself, 
though  prosecuted  at  some  points  under  adverse 
circumstances,  has  as  a  whole  been  highly  encour- 
aging for  the  future.  During  the  year  a  contract 
was  made  with  three  experienced  men  for  work  on 
the  Central  Shaft  and  the  East  End,  but  after  a 
sufficient  trial  it  appeared  that  the  parties  would  be 
unable  to  execute  it,  and  the  relinquishment  of 
the  contract  was  accepted  by  the  Governor  and 
Council  and  operations  at  those  points  were  re- 
sumed by  the  State. 

The  prosecution  of  the  work  at  the  Central  Shaft 
was  arrested  in  October  by  the  destruction  of  the 
buildings  and  machinery  by  fire,  which  was  also 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  47 

attended  bj  a  lamentable  loss  of  human  life. 
Measures  have  been  commenced  for  the  earliest 
replacement  of  the  fixtures,  and  for  the  continuance 
of  that  excavation.  !N^otwithstanding  this  and 
other  drawbacks,  there  was  at  this  point  in  a  period 
of  twelve  months  an  increase  of  progress  over  the 
preceding,  of  seventy-six  feet. 

At  the  West  End,  which,  under  a  policy  initiated 
by  Mr.  Brooks,  the  former  chairman  of  the  Com- 
missioners, has  been  worked  upon  the  contract 
system  for  nearly  a  year  and  a  half  by  the  very 
efficient  contractor,  there  has  been  a  good  advance 
and  reasonable  success.  The  original  contract  has 
been  repeated  upon  terms  more  favorable  to  the 
State,  and  its  execution  promises  every  anticipated 
result. 

At  the  "West  Shaft,  upon  the  two  linear  headings, 
there  has  been  a  decrease  of  advance,  compared 
with  the  corresponding  months  of  the  previous 
year,  of  one  hundred  and  twelve  feet.  This  loss 
has  come  from  the  great  influx  of  water  without  a 
pumping  capacity  to  dispose  of  it.  A  policy,  in 
this  particular,  intended  for  economy,  has  in  my 
judgment  been  found  to  be  erroneous,  and  I  cannot 
doubt  that  it  would  have  been  a  true  economy  to 
have  provided  one  year  ago  at  a  greater  expense 


48  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

for  larger  and  more  efficient  pumps.  But  the 
knowledge  of  present  difficulties  has  now  prepared 
the  Commissioners  to  meet  them  with  a  proper 
application  of  power  to  overcome  them.  The 
obstacle  of  water  can  be  and  will  be  overcome,  and 
a  rate  of  advance  corresponding  to  the  prosperous 
results  realized  at  the  East  End  may  be  expected. 

At  the  East  End  the  linear  advance  has  been 
within  the  year  one  thousand  and  fifty-one  feet, 
showing  an  increase  over  the  previous  year  of  four 
hundred  and  fifty-nine  feet.  The  drills  have 
proved  an  entire  success,  and  this  class  of  machines 
will  be  soon  introduced  into  the  "West  Shaft,  where 
they  should  accomplish  similar  results. 

The  Report  of  the  Commissioners  and  that  of 
the  consulting  Engineer  will  be  transmitted  to  the 
Legislature  at  an  early  day.  The  consulting 
Engineer,  Mr.  Benjamin  H.  Latrobe,  has,  during 
the  year,  visited  the  Tunnel  of  the  Alps,  and  has 
presented  in  his  report  a  variety  of  facts  learned 
there  which  will  be  found  to  possess  much  interest. 
That  great  work  has  now  proceeded  nearly 
twenty-five  thousand  linear  feet,  leaving  fifteen 
thousand  yet  to  be  accomplished.  That  enterprise, 
like  our  own,  was  beset  with  many  difficulties  in 
its  earlier  stages ;  but  by  a  constantly  accelerating 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  49 

progress  from  year  to  year,  it  has  attained  a  result 
of  nearly  four  thousand  feet  in  the  nine  months 
preceding  last  October.  After  weighing  carefully 
all  the  unfavorable  as  well  as  the  favorable  circum- 
stances which  surround  our  own  work,  it  is  my 
firm  belief  that  a  similar  acceleration  may  be 
expected  here;  and  that  this  undertaking  can  be 
finished  within  the  time  and  cost  estimated  by 
Mr.  Latrobe  in  his  report  for  1866,  which  will 
be  found  stated  in  my  last  address  to  the  two 
Houses. 

AGEICULTUEE — THE  AGEICULTURAL  COLLEGE. 

The  success  of  farm  labor  has  been  signal, 
notwithstanding  the  adverse  character  of  the  sea- 
sons. The  display  of  stock  and  products  at  the 
public  fairs  in  the  autumn  was  gratifying,  and  the 
number  of  people  who  gave  attendance  was  with- 
out parallel  in  the  past  years.     It  is  manifest  that 

If 

while  the  pursuits  of  trade  and  the  practical  arts 
obey  tendencies  to  centralization  in  the  cities  and 
large  towns,  yet  of  the  population  thus  massed 
together  for  business  a  proportion  constantly 
increasing  choose  homes  in  the  country  with  the 
attractions  of  rural  life.  Such  expend  much  of 
their  time,  their  capital,  and  their  faculties  upon 

7 


50  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

experimental  agriculture  and  horticulture.  The 
influence  of  this  has  been  already  perceived  in  the 
improvement  of  the  quality  of  stock,  and  in  a 
larger  development  of  the  productive  capacity  of 
our  soil.  Simultaneously,  and  not  less  beneficent, 
has  been  the  effect  of  this  change  in  the  modes  of 
life  of  a  large  and  influential  class  of  citizens  upon 
the  character  of  our  whole  population,  creating 
ties  of  common  interest  and  sympathy  between 
classes  hitherto  in  many  respects  widely  differing; 
displacing  jealousies  by  the  substitution  of  good 
will,  and  extending  harmony  through  the  social 
and  industrial  relations  of  all. 

The  last  General  Court  added  four  to  the  num- 
ber of  incorporated  agricultural  Societies,  making 
twenty-nine  in  all.  It  may  well  be  doubted 
whether  of  these  there  are  not  now  quite  enough 
for  their  own  eflOiciency  and  for  the  public  finances. 
Many  of  these  bodies  are  already  well  supplied 
with  means,  and  scarcely  need  the  aid  of  bounty 
from  the  treasury.  I  suggest  for  your  considera- 
tion, whether  a  reduction  in  the  amount  of  the 
bounties  might  not  wisely  be  effected  by  encourag- 
ing one-half  of  the  societies  in  alternate  years, 
and  by  limiting  the  patronage   of   the   State   to 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  51 

biennial  exhibitions  instead  of  annual.     Doubtless 
annual  shows  would  still  continue  to  be  held. 

The  annual  report  of  the  Massachusetts  Agri- 
cultural College  will  in  due  time  be  submitted  to 
the  General  Court.  This  institution  was  estab- 
lished by  the  Legislature  of  1863,  upon  the 
foundation  of  the  grant  by  Congress  of  three 
hundred  and  sixty  thousand  acres  of  the  public 
lands.  The  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  one-tenth  of 
these  were  allowed  for  the  purchase  of  a  farm, 
and  two-thirds  of  the  income  of  the  fund  obtained 
by  the  sale  of  the  remaining  nine-tenths  was  given 
to  the  College  as  an  endowment.  So  far  as  I  am 
informed,  our  own  is  the  only  State  which  has 
applied  the  gift  from  Congress  to  the  j)urposes  of 
education  explicitly  and  wholly  in  the  interest  of 
agriculture.  In  October  last  the  institution  estab- 
lished in  the  town  of  Amherst  was  opened  for  the 
reception  of  pupils,  who  already  number  forty- 
seven,  comparing  favorably  in  every  respect  with 
the  classes  in  the  other  colleges  of  the  State.  It 
has  been  the  policy  of  the  trustees  to  apply  the 
sum  of  seventy-five  thousand  dollars,  pledged  by 
the  town  of  Amherst,  to  the  erection  of  buildings 
requisite  to  carry  out  the  experiment;:  and  such 
buildings  have  been  completed  and  are  now  used 


62  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

to  their  full  capacity  by  the  first  class  that  has 
entered.  A  plant  house  has  been  constructed 
upon  a  liberal  scale,  at  a  cost  of  ten  thousand 
dollars,  given  for  that  purpose  by  Mr.  IS'athan 
Durfee,  a  public  spirited  citizen  of  Fall  River. 
The  whole  sum  already  invested  in  the  College  is 
$275,000.  A  detailed  statement  of  the  plans  of 
study  and  management  of  the  institution,  the 
operations  upon  the  farm,  and  the  general  success 
thus  far  of  a  system  of  agricultural  education 
which  combines  theory  and  practice,  will  be  found 
in  the  report  of  the  Trustees. 

I  am  aware  that  this  whole  enterprise  is  in  its 
beginning  regarded  by  many  with  that  kind  of 
incredulity  which  is  too  apt  to  disparage  all  great 
experiments ;  but  the  College  has  been  established 
by  the  Commonwealth,  and  the  magnitude  of  the 
amount  invested,  the  public  demand  for  more  lib- 
eral training  of  those  who  will  devote  themselves 
to  this  too  long  neglected  class  of  industrial  pur- 
suits, and  the  demonstrated  tendency  of  every 
school  of  learning  in  the  interest  of  practical  labor 
to  increase  the  wealth  and  improve  the  character  of 
the  people,  call  for  the  exercise  of  a  large  patience 
and  liberality  in  awaiting  and  judging  the  results. 
The  well  approved  character  of  the  president  and 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  53 

other  officers  of  the  institution  is  a  guaranty  that 
the  experiment  will  not  fail  for  want  of  zeal  or 
ability  in  its  friends. 

BANKS   FOB   SAVINGS. 

I  have  been  greatly  impressed  by  the  results 
returned  to  me  by  the  Commissioner  of  the  Insti- 
tutions for  Savings.  It  appears  that  in  October 
last  the  amount  of  deposits  in  one  hundred  and 
eight  savings  institutions  was  more  than  eighty 
millions  of  dollars,  $80,431,583.71;  with  a  surplus 
of  earnings  on  hand  of  $3,172,877.01 ;  making  an 
aggregate  of  $83,604,460.72.  Of  this  sum  five- 
eighths  have  accumulated  within  the  last  ten  years. 
This  amount  exceeds  the  paid-in  capital  of  all  the 
National  banks  in  Massachusetts  by  more  than 
three  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars.  The  increase 
of  deposits  during  the  year  has  been  $12,699,319.40 
against  an  increase  of  $7,795,781.79  in  the  previous 
year.  The  cause  of  this  extraordinary  increase 
may  in  part  be  found  in  the  facts,  that  these  insti- 
tutions have  very  generally  raised  their  ordinary 
rate  of  interest,  and  that  they  have  paid  large 
extra  dividends  during  the  past  three  years,  which 
they  have  been  enabled  to  make  by  reason  of  their 
income   from  ISTational   Bank   stocks,   (one-eighth 


54  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

of  which  in  this  Commonwealth  they  own,)  and 
from  interest  and  premiums  upon  United  States 
and  State  securities. 

I  shall  not  venture  to  indulge  in  conjectures  or 
speculations  concerning  the  future  prospects  of 
these  institutions,  in  the  present  unsettled  condition 
of  the  financial  policy  of  the  federal  government. 
One  thing  is  quite  evident;  that  however  others 
may  reason  about  the  national  securities  and  the 
national  credit,  there  are  in  Massachusetts  three 
hundred  forty-eight  thousand  five  hundred  and 
ninety-three  persons,  depositors  in  the  banks  of 
savings,  who  are  by  that  relation  the  owners  of 
thirty  millions  of  federal  bonds  and  eleven  millions 
of  national  bank  stocks,  which  is  one-half  of  the 
whole  of  their  deposits,  and  to  whom  it  is  of  vital 
importance  that  the  government  of  the  United 
States  should  keep  good  faith  with  its  creditors. 

Under  the  operation  of  the  law  relating  to  the 
rate  of  interest,  enacted  by  the  last  General  Court, 
the  savings  banks  almost  without  exception  have 
charged  seven  per  cent,  upon  their  loans ;  and  this 
practice  appears  to  have  been  entirely  satisfactory 
to  borrowers.  One  result  which  I  commend  to  the 
attention  of  our  citizens  is  expressed  by  the  fact 
that  five  millions   [5,000,000]   have  recently  been 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  65 

loaned  by  these  institutions  upon  the  security  of 
mortgages  of  real  estate.  I  hear  from  many  parts 
of  the  Commonwealth  that  there  is  a  drift  of  opin- 
ion in  favor  of  extending  the  line  of  loans  in  this 
direction;  and  in  my  judgment  this  must  be 
received  as  one  but  not  an  inconsiderable  proof  of 
the  practical  benefits  of  this  change  of  the  laws  of 
usury. 

THE   INLAOT)   FISHERIES. 

I  invite  your  favorable  attention  to  the  veiy  inte- 
resting report  of  the  commissioners  on  fisheries. 
The  Lowell  and  Lawrence  fishways  were  opened 
last  spring  with  such  success  that  during  the  sum- 
mer both  salmon  and  shad  were  taken  near  Kashua 
in  i^ew  Hampshire,  for  the  first  time  since  1849. 
Since  their  completion,  that  State,  having  made  suc- 
cessful experiments  with  spawn,  and  taken  meas- 
ures to  restock  the  Merrimack  with  salmon,  awaits 
only  the  constraction  of  fishways  over  our  mill- 
dams  on  the  Connecticut,  to  stock  that  river  also. 
By  the  report  of  the  commissioners  it  appears  that 
the  proprietors  of  the  dams  at  Hadley's  and  Tur- 
ner's Falls  on  the  Connecticut,  withhold,  or  posi- 
tively refuse,  that  co-operation  which  the  mill- 
owners   of   Lawrence   and  Lowell  were  glad  to 


56  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

afford.  I  ask  your  consideration  "whether  it  is  not 
possible  to  overcome  by  legislation  the  difficulties 
which  the  commissioners  recite,  arising  from  the 
indifference  or  opposition  of  the  proprietors  at 
Hadley's  Falls.  The  movement  to  restock  the 
^ew  England  rivers  with  useful  fish  is  one  in 
which  all  the  ]N'ew  England  States,  except  Rhode 
Island,  are  engaged,  through  commissioners  who 
have  associated  themselves  infonnally  into  one 
common  board  in  order  to  insure  harmony  of 
action.  In  respect  to  the  Merrimack  and  the  Con- 
necticut, its  success  depends  on  harmony  of  legis- 
lation between  the  States  traversed  by  those  rivers. 
Having  pledged  ourselves  to  Vermont,  JSTew  Hamp- 
shire and  Connecticut,  to  co-operate  with  them  for 
this  common  object,  I  cannot  but  think  that  those 
States  will  have  reasonable  cause  of  complaint  if 
we  shall  neglect  to  remedy  the  obstacles  on  the 
Connecticut  River  for  which  we,  as  a  State,  are  in 
part  responsible  by  having  incorporated  the  pro- 
prietors who  have  built  the  dams;  and  if,  after  con- 
sideration it  shall  seem  to  you  to  be  impracticable 
or  injudicious  to  require  them  to  remedy  at  their 
own  cost  the  damage  to  the  fisheries  which  the 
dams  are  causing,  then  I  see  no  other  course  than 
to  construct  a   fishway  at  Hadley's   Falls   at  the 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  5t 

expense  of  the  Commonwealth  according  to  the 
estimate  of  the  commissioners.  The  State  of  Con- 
necticut has  passed  an  act  prohibiting  the  taking  of 
shad  in  the  Connecticut  Kiver  at  any  season  of  the 
year  except  during  the  three  months  following 
March  15,  and  prohibiting  the  taking  of  salmon 
there  absolutely  until  March  15,  1872;  but  on  the 
condition  that  Massachusetts,  at  the  present  session 
of  the  General  Court,  shall  prescribe  the  same  limi- 
tations on  the  taking  of  those  fish  in  that  part  of 
the  river  which  lies  within  our  territory.  I  cor- 
dially advise  concurrence  in  this  legislation. 

I  commend  to  especial  attention  those  portions  of 
the  commissioners'  report  relating  to  the  artificial 
propagation  of  fish,  and  to  the  experiments  of  Mr. 
Seth  Green,  at  Holyoke,  which  it  treats  with  great 
earnestness.  The  subject  is  one  not  of  mere  scien- 
tific interest,  but  of  great  practical  importance  to 
all  classes  of  our  people  by  its  bearing  on  the 
prices  and  supply  of  food.  If  the  results  attained 
by  Mr.  Green,  of  increasing  the  production  of  fish 
seventy-fold  by  artificial  breeding  are  capable  of 
general  repetition,  it  opens  a  new  and  very  impor- 
tant field  of  productive  industry,  of  the  value  of 
which  the  commissioners  afford  significant  indica- 
tions by  reference  to  the  value  of  the  inland  fish- 

8 


58  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

eries  of  Scotland,  Ireland  and  "Wales.  In  1863, 
those  countries,  with  an  area  about  equal  to  ^ew 
England,  furnished  to  the  London  market  alone 
3,712,016  pounds  of  salmon,  worth  more  than  a 
million  dollars;  the  fishing-rental  of  the  river  Tay 
alone  for  1864  was  |75,000  gold  ;  and  these 
results,  considerable  though  they  may  appear,  have 
been  greatly  surpassed  in  later  years  during  which 
the  artificial  breeding  of  fish  has  been  more  exten- 
sively and  intelligently  prosecuted. 

STATE   AGENCY   AT   WASHINGTON. 

I  beg  to  recommend  the  renewal  of  an  appro- 
priation for  the  support  of  the  State  agency  at 
Washington.  The  past  year  has  been  the  first, 
since  the  agency  was  established,  during  w^hich 
Massachusetts  has  had  no  troops  in  service  in  the 
field;  but  with  the  close  of  the  war  arose  a  large 
business  in  the  prosecution  of  our  soldiers'  claims 
for  bounties,  pensions,  and  arrears  of  pay,  and  in 
the  investigations  necessary  to  correct  and  certify 
the  military  records  of  the  adjutant-general's  office, 
which  has  kept  the  agency  constantly  and  usefully 
employed.  On  December  1,  1866,  it  had  in  its 
charge  2,316  unsettled  claims  of  our  soldiers. 
During  the  year  which  ended  December  1,  1867, 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  .         .  59 

2,697  additional  claims  were  prosecuted  by  it, 
almost  all  of  them  being  received  through  the 
office  of  the  Surgeon- General  of  the  State;  and 
1,879  claims  were  finally  settled,  on  which  there 
were  collected  from  the  United  States  for  the 
claimants  $203,458.41.  The  number  of  unsettled 
claims  now  in  its  charge  is  therefore  more  than 
three  thousand.  During  the  past  year  it  has  also 
ascertained  and  certified  for  the  records  of  the 
adjutant-general's  office  the  military  history  of 
3,719  men.  The  total  of  its  expenses  for  the  year 
has  been  less  than  seventy-five  hundred  dollars.  I 
am  satisfied  that  among  all  the  benevolent  expendi- 
tures of  the  State,  none  is  productive  of  more  good 
at  less  cost.  The  amount  of  money  which  the 
agency  has  saved  to  poor  families  of  soldiers,  who 
otherwise  would  have  been  preyed  upon  by  dishon- 
est claim-agents,  exceeds  many  times  the  expense 
of  its  support,  to  say  nothing  of  the  ease  of  mind 
it  affords  to  such  poor  people  by  the  consciousness 
that  their  affiiirs  are  in  the  hands  of  officers  of 
approved  character,  responsible  to  the  Common- 
wealth for  their  conduct.  In  other  ways  also  the 
experience  of  our  State  agent  at  "Washington  has 
been  availed  of,  especially  in  regard  to  the  prepara- 
tion and  settlement  of  the  claims  of  Massachusetts 


60  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

on  the  general  government  for  re-imbiirsement  of 
military  outlays,  to  which  I  have  alluded  elsewhere. 
The  time,  doubtless,  is  not  far  distant,  when  the 
agency  may  be  discontinued;  but  for  the  present,  I 
am  persuaded  that  its  continuance  is  needful.  I 
refer  you  to  the  report  of  the  Surgeon-General  for 
an  account  in  detail  of  its  business  and  expenses. 

THE   PAYMASTER   AND   BOUNTIES. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  present  year  I 
directed  the  Paymaster's  department  to  be  finally 
discontinued,  believing  that  the  payment  of  any 
bounties  subject  to  call  may  reasonably  be  con- 
ducted through  the  permanent  departments  of  the 
government;  at  the  same  time  employing  a  single 
person  to  complete  the  records  of  that  office  which 
will  be  absolutely  essential  in  years  to  come. 

Of  the  bounties  still  purporting  to  be  due  and 
uncalled  for,  a  large  portion  date  back  two,  three, 
four  or  more  years.  Considering  the  extensive 
desertions  in  the  last  years  of  the  war  in  connec- 
tion with  the  bounty  system,  and  bounty  brokerage 
in  its  various  modes  of  fraud,  it  may  be  reasonably 
assumed  that  in  a  great  number  of  cases  those  who 
might  have  claimed  these  bounties  uncalled  for, 
were  deserters,  knowing  that  they  have  forfeited 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  61 

the  allowance  to  which  actual  service  would  have 
entitled  them.  In  the  last  two  years  many 
instances  have  occurred  of  claimants  and  others 
ascertaining  the  names  of  soldiers  having  sums  of 
money  standing  to  their  credit  on  the  rolls,  and 
then  manufacturing  evidence  upon  which  to  secm-e 
the  payment  of  the  same.  In  some  cases,  when 
rejected  by  the  Executive,  these  have  been  urged 
upon  the  Legislature,  generally  without  success. 
You  will  permit  me  to  suggest  a  close  scrutiny  of 
any  such  claims  which  may  be  presented  during 
the  present  session.  Desiring  to  do  substantial 
justice  to  the  soldiers  and  to  the  treasury,  I  have 
directed  the  Paymaster  to  turn  over  to  the  Adju- 
tant-General for  revision  all  bounty  rolls  in  his 
possession  which  accrued  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  provost-marshals,  all  other  rolls  having  been 
previously  transferred  for  the  same  purpose.  I 
have  also  requested  the  Treasurer  to  furnish  to 
the  Adjutant-General  for  that  purpose  a  descrip- 
tive list  of  all  to  whom  full  or  monthly  bounties 
still  appear  to  be  due  on  his  unpaid  rolls,  and 
not  himself  to  make  further  payment  of  the 
same  unless  duly  certified  on  new  and  properly 
approved  rolls.     This  course  will  unquestionably 


62  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

accomplish    justice   to    all,    and   will    legitimately 
close  up  what  remains  of  this  great  account. 

THE    HAEBOR   OF   BOSTON. 

Much  has  been  done  and  still  more  proposed  dur- 
ing the  past  year  for  the  benefit  of  Boston  Harbor. 
Immediately  after  the  appointment  of  the  Har- 
bor Commissioners  in  1866,  they  caused  surveys 
to  be  made  by  their  engineer,  Mr.  Albert  Boschke, 
to  ascertain  what  ought  to  be  done  for  the  pro- 
tection and  improvement  of  the  lower  harbor. 
These  surveys  were  made  wath  great  care.  Mr. 
Boschke's  estimate  of  the  expense  of  the  neces- 
sary works  amounted  in  the  aggregate  to  some- 
thing more  than  a  million  dollars.  The  plan  of 
the  whole  work  was  approved  by  Major- General 
A.  A.  Humphreys,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  United 
States  Army,  and  recommended  by  the  Secretary 
of  "War. 

At  the  final  session  of  the  last  Congress  the 
Harbor  Commissioners  presented  a  petition  for  an 
appropriation  to  protect  and  improve  the  outer 
harbor.  The  necessity  of  the  aid  sought  being 
apparent,  Congress  granted  an  appropriation  of 
three  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars 
for  the  "  preservation  and  improvements  of  Boston 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  63 

Harbor."  This  grant  of  Congress  has  enabled 
Major-General  Benham  to  continue  the  construc- 
tion of  the  sea-wall  on  the  Great  Brewster,  which, 
it  is  hoped,  will  prevent  further  waste  of  the 
island  and  further  extension  of  the  Spit. 

Other  works,  under  the  skilful  superintendence 
of  Major-General  J.  G.  Foster,  which  will  be  of 
the  greatest  benefit  to  the  lower  harbor,  have 
been  ingeniously  and  successfully  prosecuted. 
Two  rocks, — known  as  Tower  Rock  and  Corwin 
Rock, — very  dangerous  to  ships  of  great  draft, 
lay  in  a  narrow  part  of  the  main  ship  channel. 
The  entire  removal  of  the  Tower  Rock  to  a  depth 
of  more  than  twenty-three  feet  below  low-water, 
and  the  partial  destruction  of  the  Corwin  Rock, 
have  been  already  effected.  The  deepening  and 
widening  of  the  main  ship  channel  in  another  nar- 
row part,  by  cutting  off  a  portion  of  Lovell's 
Island,  has  also  been  begun  under  the  charge  of 
the  same  able  officer,  and  will,  together  with  the 
destruction  of  the  Corwin  Rock  as  far  as  neces- 
sary, be  finished,  it  is  believed,  in  the  ensuing 
season.  For  the  details  of  these  and  other  inter- 
esting operations,  begun  and  planned  to  protect 
and  improve  the  lower  harbor,  I  refer  to  the  Har- 
bor  Commissioners'   Report.     I  congratulate    the 


64  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

Commonwealth  on  having  secured  the  co-operation 
of  the  United  States  to  such  an  extent  in  aid  of 
our  navigation. 

For  the  continuation  of  these  important  oper- 
ations, the  Secretary  of  "War  has  recommended 
to  the  present  Congi'ess  an  appropriation  of  $287,- 
000.  There  is  every  reason  to  hope  that  the  work 
so  well  begun  will  be  consummated  by  the  United 
States,  as  I  am  sure  we  have  a  right  to   expect. 

Good  progress  has  been  made  in  establishing  the 
basis  upon  which  the  projected  improvement  of  the 
South  Boston  Flats  shall  be  made.  In  the  year 
1866,  the  Legislature  adopted  a  plan  for  the 
improvement  of  these  flats,  the  execution  of  which 
in  its  essential  features  would  involve  a  very  con- 
siderable extension  of  the  wharves  on  the  Boston 
side  of  Fort  Point  Channel,  and  a  filling  up  of  the 
flats  on  the  south  side  of  the.  channel,  after  enclos- 
ing them  by  a  sea-wall  which  would  be  available  in 
the  construction  of  wharves  and  docks  bordering 
on  the  deep  water  of  the  harbor.  But  occupation 
of  the  flats  in  this  manner  was  believed  to  involve, 
also,  the  necessity  of  large  and  very  expensive 
excavations  in  Charles  and  Mystic  Rivers,  the  most 
efiective  tidal  reservoirs  of  Boston  Harbor,  to 
compensate   for  the  water  displaced  by  the  pro- 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  65 

posed  filling,  and  so  to  preserve  the  sconring  force 
of  the  tide.     It  was  feared,  if  this  system  of  com- 
pensation was  an  inseparable  part  of  the  plan,  that 
all  the  profits  to  the  Commonwealth  aside  from  the 
improvement  itself,  would  be  swallowed  np  in  the 
necessary  measures  for  preventmg  the  injuries  that 
must  result  to  the  harbor  from  the  displacement  of 
so  much  tide-water.     Fortunately,  however,  for  the 
immediate  pecuniary  success  of  this  great  enter- 
prise,  new  investigations  have  been  made  and  a 
conclusion    has    been    reached,  having   the    high 
sanction  of  distinguished    scientific  men,  that  an 
equivalent    for    compensation  for    tide-water  dis- 
placed, much  cheaper  than  compensation  in  kind 
can  be  obtained,  1.  By  dredging  certain  portions 
of  the  main  channel  of  the  harbor  to  the  depth 
of  twenty-three  feet  below  mean  low-water  and 
using  the    material    so    dredged    to    fill    up    the 
South  Boston  Flats  which  lie  in  close  proximity; 
2.   By  the   guarantee   of   the   Commonwealth  to 
defray   out   of  the   profits   of  the   enterprise   the 
expense  of  annually  removing  by  dredging  such 
accumulations  in  the  channel  as  may  take  place. 
The   income   of   half   a  million   of   dollars   it    is 
thought  will  be  sufficient  for  the  complete  protec- 
tion of  the  harbor,  and  should  such  a  sum  be  set 


66  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

aside  by  the  Commonwealth  for  this  object  there 
will  undoubtedly  still  remain  a  larger  surplus  of 
pecuniary  profit  accruing  to  the  State.  For  the 
purpose  of  making  this  improvement  the  Legis- 
lature of  the  past  year  authorized  the  Harbor 
Commissioners  to  contract  for  the  construction  of 
a  continuous  sea-wall  on  the  south  side  of  Fort 
Point  Channel  on  a  line  parallel  with  the  line  as 
laid  down  upon  the  plan  adopted  by  the  General 
Court.  They  also  provided  for  the  appointment  of 
an  engineer  who  should  determine  the  line  of 
the  wall  and  prepare  the  plan  and  specifications 
for  building  it.  Two  hundred  thousand  dollars 
were  appropriated  for  the  work.  By  the  pro- 
visions of  the  law  the  location  of  the  line  of  the 
wall  by  the  engineer,  his  plans  and  specifications, 
and  the  contract  for  the  work  to  be  executed  by 
the  board  of  Harbor  Commissioners,  were  all 
made  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Governor 
and  Council;  while  the  construction  of  the  work 
was  placed  in  charge  of  the  engineer  under  the 
direction  of  the  board.  Under  this  Act  I  appointed 
Mr.  George  R.  Baldwin,  an  engineer  of  expe- 
rience in  this  kind  of  work.  The  Commissioners 
were  also  authorized  to  change  the  lines  of 
Fort  Point   Channel  as  laid   down  on  the  legis- 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  6T 

lative  plan  of  1866,  in  order  that,  by  conveying 
the  channel  nearer  the  Boston  side,  the  requisite 
extension  of  wharves  might  be  reduced  to  the 
lowest  amount  and  the  area  of  improved  flats 
on  the  other  side  of  the  channel  enlarged.  This 
change  in  the  line  the  Commissioners  have  made. 

After  considerable  discussion  before  the  Exec- 
utive Council  I  have  approved  a  line  for  the 
wall  running  fifty  feet  inside  of  the  outer  line  of 
the  legislative  plan  of  1866,  and  parallel  with  it, — 
a  space  of  about  fifty  feet  width  being  reserved 
for  the  construction  of  platforms  at  the  ends  of 
the  wharves  that  will  be  built  upon  this  improved 
land.  My  reason  for  approving  this  line  is  that 
the  intention  of  the  Legislature,  derived  from 
the  construction  of  the  statute  under  which  the 
Executive  was  to  act  as  well  as  from  the  explicit 
testimony  of  the  members  of  the  Legislature  who 
framed  the  law,  seemed  to  be  that  the  wall  should 
be  built  on  or  near  the  line  approved.  If,  how- 
ever, the  wall  is  to  be  built  upon  this  line  the 
cost  will  be  very  much  larger  than  the  $200,000 
appropriated  for  its  construction,  and  the  Legis- 
lature will  be  obliged  to  increase  the  appropria- 
tion, or  give  to  the  board  of  Harbor  Commission- 
ers, who  are  charged  with   the  duty  of  building 


68  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

this  wall,  authority  to  pay  for  it  in  land  which  shall 
be  filled  in. 

Moreover,  in  order  to  make  this  wall  and 
improved  territory  available  for  commercial  pur- 
poses, the  Commissioners  should  have  authority  to 
build,  not  a  continuous  wall,  but  a  wall  Avhich  shall 
serve  as  the  outer  wall  of  wharves,  separated  by 
docks,  whenever  they  may  be  wanted  along  the 
deep  water  front  of  the  land  improved.  It  is  also 
to  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  is  important  for  the 
security  of  Boston  Harbor  that  the  extension  of 
the  wharves  on  the  Boston  side  of  Fort  Point 
Channel  should  be  secured  during  the  progress  of 
these  works. 

I  have  thought  it  advisable  not  to  approve  any 
contracts  before  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature, 
but  to  lay  the  whole  matter  before  you,  that  you 
may  give  the  requisite  authority  to  the  board 
having  the  construction  of  the  wall  in  charge,  for 
building  it  in  such  a  manner  that  it  may  be  avail- 
able for  commerce  and  of  value  to  the  State,  and 
that  the  means  may  be  provided  for  paying  for  it 
at  the  cost  at  which  it  must  be  built,  either  by 
further  appropriation  or  in  land  to  be  created  by 
this  improvement. 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  69 

CAPE   COD   HARBOR. 

By  chapter  eighty-six  of  the  Resolves  of  1867  a 
sum  not  exceeding  one  hundred  thousand  dollars 
was  allowed  and  appropriated  to  the  protection  and 
preservation  of  the  Harbor  at  Provincetown,  to  be 
expended  by  Commissioners  upon  plans  approved 
by  the  Governor  and  Council.  At  an  early  day 
the  Commissioners  provided  by  the  Kesolve  were 
appointed  and  they  have  since  industriously 
attended  to  the  grave  duty  assigned  to  them. 
Quite  recently  their  report,  with  plans  and  models, 
has  been  submitted,  and  it  will  be  transmitted  to 
you  for  information  and  for  such  further  action  as 
in  your  wisdom  may  seem  proper.  The  eminent 
engineer  who  has  made  the  necessary  surveys  and 
whose  judgment  upon  the  subject  is  embodied  in 
the  report,  has  now  retired  from  the  commission; 
but  his  presence  as  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  will  enable  the  Legislature  to 
become  familiar  with  the  exigencies  of  the  case. 
The  report  presents  the  urgent  necessity  of  imme- 
diate action  by  somebody,  either  on  the  part  of  the 
State  or  the  Federal  government,  for  protecting 
this  harbor  from  the  rapid  wearing  of  the  sea.  I 
have  been  constrained  to  decline  any  action  upon 
the  plans   reported,  because  the  estimates  of  the 


70  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

cost  of  the  work,  if  carried  out  in  the  manner 
recommended  by  the  Commissioners,  exceed  by 
fifty  thousand  dollars  the  amount  allowed  by  the 
Kesolve.  You  will  permit  me  to  invite  your  early 
attention  to  the  subject;  for  if  the  State  is  to 
prosecute  the  undertaking  it  will  be  essential, 
both  for  the  object  itself  and  for  economy  in 
attaining  it,  that  contracts  for  material  may  be 
made  during  the  present  season. 

THE   PROHIBITORY  LAW. 

In  a  free  Commonwealth  the  will  of  the  people 
must  be  acknowledged,  respected  and  obeyed  -as 
the  supreme  law  of  the  land.  After  ample  con- 
sideration and  free  discussion,  they  have  expressed 
at  the  ballot  box  their  emphatic  disapproval  of  the 
prohibitory  law,  so  called,  with  its  present  pen- 
alties and  methods  of  enforcement.  Precisely 
what  policy  shall  be  adopted  in  its  stead  they 
have  not  so  distinctly  intimated.  But  it  is  to  be 
supposed  that  the  rej)resentatives  of  their  own 
selection,  fresh  from  the  popular  assemblies,  have 
been  made  fully  aware  of  the  sentiments  and 
desires  of  their  immediate  constituents. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  would  be  pre- 
sumptuous  in  me,'  however   decided  my   convic- 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  71 

tions,  to  propose  and  maintain  a  policy  which 
might  conflict  with  the  expressed  pleasure  of  the 
people. 

In  response  to  an  order  of  inquiry  addressed  to 
me  by  the  House  of  Representatives  of  1867,  I 
had  the  honor  to  state  that  "  It  is  not  for  the  chief 
executive  magistrate  to  assume  at  his  discretion,  in 
one  instance  to  enforce,  and  in  another  instance  to 
suspend,  existing  laws.  For  this  would  be  vir- 
tually to  exercise  legislative  power;  "  and  further, 
that  "  if  laws  which  are  deemed  unwise  are  found 
upon  the  statute  book,  they  must  nevertheless  be 
enforced  impartially  and  faithfully  by  all  the  offi- 
cers of  the  government,  until  amended  or  repealed 
by  the  Legislature,  with  whom  alone  rests  the 
power  of  making  and  repealing  the  laws."  By 
the  principles  expressed  in  that  communication  I 
propose  steadfastly  to  abide;  and  accordingly  I 
respectfully  refer  this  whole  question,  so  momen- 
tous in  its  relations,  and  so  interesting  to  the 
people,  to  the  careful  deliberation  and  wise 
judgment  of  their  representatives  in  the  General 
Court. 

I  must,  however,  be  permitted  to  record  my 
deliberate  conviction  that  the  moral  and  religious 
sentiment  of  our  community  will  not  tolerate  the 


72  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

absence  of  all  legislative  provisions  regarding  the 
traffic  in  intoxicating  drinks,  but  demands  its 
restraint,  regulation,  control,  by  positive  enact- 
ment. And  farther,  that  no  statute  will  command 
the  respect  and  permanent  support  of  the  people 
of  Massachusetts,  which  shall  conflict  with  the 
paramount  claims  of  industry,  sobriety  and  good 
order,  or  be  inconsistent  with  their  reputation  as 
an  intelligent  and  Christian  Commonwealth. 

THE   STATE   CONSTABULARY. 

I  shall  have  the  honor  to  transmit  to  the  Legis- 
lature the  Report  of  Major  Edward  J.  Jones,  the 
Constable  of  the  Commonwealth,  (a  conscientious 
and  efficient  officer,  who  has  my  confidence,)  with 
the  accompanying  statistics  exhibiting  in  detail  the 
operations  of  his  force  for  the  past  year. 

As  a  magistrate,  responsible  for  the  administra- 
tion of  the  laws,  I  cannot  pass  by  in  silence  this 

record  of  faithful  service  rendered  in  the  execution 

» 

of  an  enactment  the  justice  and  expediency  of 
which  are  questioned  by  so  many  citizens  of 
intelligence  and  probity. 

The  great  majority  of  the  Constabulary  is  com- 
posed of  veterans  of  the  Army  and  IS^avy,  many  of 
them  disabled  in  the  service  of  the  country  and  all 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  73 

of  them  presenting  an  honorable  military  record. 
They  have  been  inured  by  martial  discipline  to 
unquestioning  obedience  to  orders,  whether  in  ful- 
fulling  the  duties  of  the  camp,  or  facing  the  dan- 
gers of  the  field.  Hence,  doubtless,  they  have 
performed  the  duties  assigned  them  with  an  exact- 
ness and  a  stringency  novel  to  citizens  unfamiliar 
with  military  methods  and  unused  to  summary 
proceedings.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that 
whether  in  carrying  out  the  specialties  of  a  partic- 
ular law,  or  in  encountering  the  desperate  burglar 
or  midnight  assassin,  or  in  threading  as  detectives 
the  intricacies  of  crime,  they  have  for  the  most  part 
displayed  coolness,  alacrity  and  skill.  Then, 
"  since  we  punish  not  the  sword  itself,  the  instru- 
ment of  the  law,"  it  is  unjust  that  obloquy  should 
fall  on  those  who  have  discharged  their  disagree- 
able and  often  painful  duties  with  courage  and  dis- 
cretion. It  is  also  unjust  that  they  should  suffer 
in  the  public  esteem  by  reason  of  the  incapacity, 
infidelity,  or  rashness  of  a  few,  whose  counterparts 
are  to  be  found  in  all  similar  bodies,  and  who  were 
introduced  to  the  Constabulary  by  the  efforts  of 
eminent  men  both  among  the  friends  and  oppo- 
nents of  the  policy  they  were  expected  to  enforce. 
That  I  should  say  this  much,  is  due  not  only  to 

10 


74  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

meritorious  men,  faithful  to  a  public  trust  under 
reproach  and  contumely,  but  also  to  the  cause  of 
law  and  order,  which  must  be  sustained  and  vin- 
dicated in  its  dignity  and  integrity  by  the  support 
of  its  administrative  officers. 

It  is  well  known  tliat  my  lamented  predecessor, 
when  called  upon  to  interpose  the  power  of  the 
Commonwealth  in  an  exigency  affecting  the  right 
of  free  speech  in  the  City  of  Boston,  found  himself 
without  any  civil  force  whatsoever  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  public  order.  In  his  last  special  message 
to  the  Legislature  he  took  occasion  to  use  the 
following  language  in  relation  to  the  Constabulary: 
"  I  should  be  unfaithful  to  the  people  of  Massachu- 
setts, if  I  omitted  to  declare  the  opinion,  resulting 
from  five  years'  experience  in  executive  affairs,  that 
the  maintenance  of  such  a  civil  force,  directly 
responsible  to  the  chief  executive  magistrate,  is  of 
high  importance,  and  will  yet  prove  essential  to  the 
Commonwealth.  This  opinion  has  no  especial 
connection  with  any  class  of  legislative  enactments. 
All  the  laws  may  be  altered  or  repealed  the  infrac- 
tions of  which  led  to  this  establishment,  yet  still  it 
would  be  needful,  unless  it  is  deemed  best  to  leave 
the  chief  magistrate  without  power  to  execute  the 
laws."     These  words  of  advice,  emanating  from  the 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  75 

clear  head  and  true  heart  of  him  who  has  left  us, 
will  doubtless  have  their  due  weight  with  the 
people  of  the  State  and  with  their  representatives; 
and  it  will  be  for  your  wisdom  to  deteraiine 
whether  the  minimum  of  this  force,  as  fixed  by  the 
original  Act  establishing  it,  shall  not  be  retained  to 
aid  in  the  preservation  of  the  public  peace  and  to 
carry  out  with  efficiency  such  provisions  of  law,  if 
any,  as  you  may  choose  to  substitute  for  those  now 
existing. 

NATURAL   HISTOBT. 

Under  the  provisions  of  Chapter  thirty-two  of 
the  Resolves  of  1867, 1  appointed  Mr.  "William  G. 
Binney,  one  of  the  best  of  American  naturalists,  to 
edit  and  arrange  the  republication  of  the  Report 
on  the  Invertebrate  Animals  of  Massachusetts, 
which  had  been  before  authorized  by  Chapter 
forty-four  of  the  Resolves  of  1865;  a  work  which 
had  been  left  unfinished  by  the  death  of  the  late 
Dr.  A.  A.  Gould,  ^o  compensation  is  asked  or 
expected  for  this  important  labor.  The  appropria- 
tion of  $4,000  made  by  Chapter  two  hundred  and 
eighty-two  of  the  Acts  of  1865  was  re-affirmed  by 
the  Resolve  of  1867,  and  it  was  provided  that  the 
work   should  be   done   as  nearly   as  possible    in 


76  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

accordance  with  the  plans  and  views  of  the  original 
author. 

Mr.  Binney,  who  was  appointed  with  the  full 
concurrence  of  the  representatives  of  Dr.  Gould, 
has  entered  upon  his  duties  and  made  informal 
reports  of  his  progress,  from  which  it  appears  that 
an  additional  appropriation  of  ^4,000  Avill  be  neces- 
sary to  bring  out  the  work  in  a  style  creditable  to 
the  State  and  uniform  with  the  other  works  of  a 
similar  character  which  we  have  published  and 
which  have  helped  to  give  to  this  Commonwealth  a 
reputation  for  liberal  culture  in  other  countries. 
This  additional  cost  results  in  part  from  the  fact 
that  the  original  estimates  were  made  some  years 
ago,  when  everything  connected  with  book-making 
was  much  cheaper  than  now;  in  part  from  the  fact 
that  the  present  editor  has  been  able  to  procure 
many  additional  drawings  for  illustrations  which 
should  be  included  in  the  work;  and  somewhat 
from  the  fact  that  the  original  copperplates  on 
which  Mr.  Gould  depended,  cannot  be  fouud, 
although  every  effort  has  been  made  to  discover 
them,  and  which,  unless  soon  discovered,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  replace.  If  they  shall  be  found  the 
whole  of  this  additional  $4,000  will  not  be 
required.     I  also  respectfully  suggest  further  leg- 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  77 

islation  relative  to  the   distribution   of  the  books 
when  published. 

THE    STATE   HOUSE. 

The  Legislature  of  the  last  year  provided  for  a 
thorough  change  in  the  condition  of  this  building, 
and  for  additional  and  more  commodious  rooms 
for  the  committees  of  its  two  branches.  Improve- 
ments had  long  been  needful  to  the  health  and 
comfort  of  the  members  of  the  Legislature  and  of 
the  various  officers  and  clerks  who  pass  here  the 
business  hours  of  every  year.  By  an  inadver- 
tence, the  main  outlay  necessary  to  the  prosecution 
of  the  work  was  not  provided  for  in  any  bill 
of  appropriation;  but  the  commissioners  rightly 
judged  it  to  be  their  duty  to  proceed  at  once  with 
the  undertaking,  relying  on  the  present  General 
Court  to  appropriate  the  money.  The  President 
of  the  Senate  and  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  were  invested  with  full  powers  to 
du'ect  and  carry  on  the  whole  work.  The  late  day 
of  the  final  adjournment  of  the  Legislature  post- 
poned the  commencement  of  active  operations 
till  July;  and  consequently  the  progress  which  has 
been  made,  which  I  am  sure  must  satisfy  if  it  does 


78  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

not  surprise  us,  has  been  accomplished  within  the 
brief  period  of  six  months. 

Of  the  assiduity  and  fidehty  with  which  the 
commissioners  have  performed  their  duty,  it  has 
been  my  own  opportunity  to  be  a  daily  witness, 
and  it  is  my  pleasure  to  make  public  mention  of 
it  upon  this  occasion.  The  President  of  the 
Senate,  the  Honorable  Joseph  A.  Pond,  was 
suddenly  removed  by  death  in  October  last.  The 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Pepresentatives,  the 
Honorable  James  M.  Stone,  has  therefore  been 
obliged  to  discharge  alone  the  difficult  and  respon- 
sible task  of  the  commission.  I  think  you  will 
concur  with  me  that  he  has  performed  these 
functions  with  extraordinary  success,  and  I  am 
confident  that  no  better  officer  could  have  been 
intrusted  with  the  completion  of  the  entire  work 
and  the  settlement  with  all  the  contractors.  The 
State  House,  thus  changed  to  the  great  benefit  of 
the  public,  may  reasonably  be  expected  to  satisfy 
the  essential  wants  of  the  present  generation,  with 
only  inconsiderable  additional  expense  to  repair 
damages  by  weather  and  time. 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  79 

THE   NATION. 

The  close  of  the  conflict  for  national  unity  finds 
the  country  perplexed  by  questions  of  finance,  and 
confused  by  the  uncertainties  of  the  future.  In 
these  embarrassments  the  people  of  this  Common- 
wealth, from  the  wide  extent  of  their  commercial 
relations,  inevitably  share.  But  the  great  princi- 
ples of  civil  liberty  transplanted  to  her  soil, 
cherished  through  the  lapse  of  centuries,  and  ever 
maintained  by  the  treasure  and  the  blood  of  her 
sons,  have  been  vindicated  in  the  contest.  As 
then,  faithful  to  her  traditions,  she  was  the  first  to 
assert  their  supremacy  on  hostile  soil,  so  may  she, 
as  a  Christian  Commonwealth,  be  the  first  to 
recognize  the  new  duties  of  a  conquered  peace. 
Suffering  severely  as  they  must  from  the  waste 
and  material  loss  of  the  conflict,  her  people  cannot 
forget  that  the  work  of  the  warrior  is  done,  and 
that  the  duties  of  the  statesman  have  begun.  I  am 
sure  that  they  will  agree  with  me  that  no  word  is  to 
be  retracted,  no  principle  compromised.  But  I  am 
equally  sure  that  they  will  remember  that  it  is  of 
vital  import  to  our  citizens  that  the  waste  of  war 
should  be  repaired,  that  our  productive  energies 
should  be  fully  employed, — every  spindle  set  in 
motion,  every  laborer  supplied  with  work.     I  am 


80  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

confident,  too,  that  in  accordance  with  the  teach- 
ings of  their  pious  fathers,  wMle  fidelity  to  freedom 
forbids  them  to  forget,  they  will  admit  their  duty 
to  forgive,  and  that  magnanimity  to  the  defeated  is 
not  necessarily  compromise  of  prmciple. 

We  have  destroyed  involuntary  servitude.  We 
have  manumitted  a  race  of  men  and  conceded  to 
them  equality  of  civil  and  political  rights.  In  the 
exercise  of  these  rights  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
conventions  in  the  Southern  States,  which  they 
have  mainly  controlled,  I  believe  that,  after  making 
due  allow^ances,  they  have  displayed  a  praiseworthy 
moderation.  It  is  a  sacred  duty  to  insure  them 
protection  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  rights  we  have 
guaranteed.  But  we  must  also  remember  that 
there  are  millions  of  the  white  race  who  cannot 
and  must  not  always  be  retained  in  the  position  of 
abject  foes;  millions  whose  productive  labor  is 
necessary  for  the  discharge  of  national  obligations 
which  must  never  be  repudiated,  and  whose  good 
will  and  co-operation  are  essential  to  a  complete 
and  thorough  re-union.  Let  us  then  hear  no  more 
of  confiscation  and  attainder  for  the  Southern 
masses.  Let  us  make  an  end  of  illiberal  and 
unfriendly  legislation,  and  wliile  compromising 
no  principle   for  which  we    have    contended  let 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  81 

us  restore  those  lately  in  rebellion  to  equality 
of  rights  as  speedily  as  is  consistent  with  the 
national  safety. 

The  present  obstacles  to  re-construction  must 
come  to  a  speedy  end,  whether  interposed  by  unre- 
pentant rebels,  by  a  President  who  does  not  make 
treason  odious,  or  by  those  whom  his  policy  has 
deluded  into  renewed  resistance.  The  welfare  and 
the  will  of  the  people  require  it.  They  demand 
peace;  peace  from  turmoil  of  mind,  as  well  as  from 
turmoil  of  war  ;  peace  for  their  finances,  for  their 
industry,  for  their  commerce;  and,  having  the 
determination  and  the  power,  there  is  no  mis-» 
taking  the  agency  by  which  they  intend  to  enforce 
it.  If  embittered  men  refuse  to  accept  the  boon 
that  is  proffered,  the  responsibility,  the  shame  and 
the  ruinous  consequences  will  be  theirs  alone.  If 
they  are  so  blind  to  their  own  interests  as  to  incite 
hostiUty  between  races,  they  will  find  that  the 
nation  is  strong  ;  that  the  nation  will  maintain  its 
guarantees.  "No  rights  of  loyal  men  will  be 
surrendered  to  effect  any  settlement  whatsoever. 
Equality  of  rights  and  universal  suffrage  are  irre- 
versible facts.     The  wheels  of  revolution  do  not 

roll  backward.     In  the  march  of  civilization  and 
11 


82  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

democratic  ideas,  this  nation  takes  no  backward 
step. 

ULYSSES   S.    GRAIJ^T. 

It  is  the  record  of  history  that  in  great  public 
crises  the  instinct  of  a  nation  points  with  unerring 
sagacity  to  some  man  of  the  people  whom  they 
adopt  at  once,  in  assurance  of  faith,  as  their  chosen 
champion  and  deliverer;  and  by  a  natural  law 
this  abiding  confidence  is  through  its  own  soothing 
power  the  surest  guaranty  of  success. 

In  this  dark  hour  of  national  exigency  we 
have  need  of  a  leader  whose  integrity  is  uncor- 
rupted  by  political  associations  and  whose  patriot- 
ism has  not  permitted  him  to  descend  to  the  arena 
of  partisan  warfare ;  of  a  tried  leader  of  undaunted 
courage,  who  will  be  swayed  neither  by  popular 
passion  nor  sectional  prejudice;  of  a  man  of 
cautious  reticence,  who  has  no  inconsistencies  to 
explain,  no  policies  to  maintain,  no  theories  to 
promulgate;  of  a  leader  who  comprehends  the 
position  and  relations  of  all  sections  of  our  com- 
mon country,  and  who  will  bring  to  the  administra- 
tion of  public  affairs  executive  ability,  economical 
ideas,  a  clear  head  and  an  honest  heart. 

It  is  manifest  that  it  is  the  same  Providence  which 
brought  us  safely  through  the  storm  of  war,  that 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  83 

moves  this  whole  people  now  with  singular  una- 
nimity to  recognize  in  a  plain,  unpretending  citizen 
him  whose  energy,  discretion  and  exalted  patriotism 
will  restore  peace  and  prosperity  to  discordant 
States  and  a  distracted  land.  The  man  for  the 
crisis — the  man  for  the  hour — the  man  of  the 
people — is  Ulysses  S.  Gkai^t.  Before  his  pre- 
eminent fitness  for  the  high  office  to  which  a  grate- 
ful nation  would  elevate  him,  let  personal  preferences 
yield,  let  faction  subside,  that  peace,  good  will  and  , 
union  may  once  more  and  forever  abide  throughout 
the  Republic  ! 

JOHK  ALBIOI^   AXDEEW.. 

"Within  a  few  weeks  past  the  people  have  been 
deeply  affected  by  the  death  of  Johk  Albion 
Ajsdeew.  His  remarkable  abilities,  his  political 
and  professional  eminence,  his  protracted  and 
arduous  service  in  a  high  public  trust  during  a 
period  of  unprecedented  difficulties,  have  caused 
his  death  to  be  universally  lamented  and  have 
earned  for  him  an  enduring  place  in  our  history. 
His  honesty  and  courage,  his  sagacity  and  sim- 
plicity, his  kindness  and  fmnkness,  hi&  fidelity  to 
friends  and  generosity  to  all,  the  purity  of  his 
life    and   the   patriotism  of   his    principles,   have 


84  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

already  surrounded  his  name  and  memory  with 
testimonials  of  respect  and  affection  such  as  are 
rarely  witnessed.  The  records  of  the  Executive 
Department  of  this  Commonwealth  will  bear  per- 
petual testimony  to  his  labors.  So  great  and 
various  duties  as  fell  to  him  have  not  happened  to 
any  chief  magistrate  before,  and  could  not  have 
come  to  any  other  more  safely  than  to  him.  In 
the  performance  of  duty,  nothing  moved  him  ;  he 
marched  directly  forward  upon  the  road  where 
that  called  him.  He  was  "clear  in  his  great 
office." 

But  for  myself,  his  breadth,  and  scope,  and 
genius  for  public  affairs,  do  not  so  much  affect  me 
on  this  occasion,  as  do  the  personal  memories  of 
the  hour.  It  was  my  fortune,  in  another  office  .of 
the  State,  to  be  associated  with  him  during  the 
entire  term  of  his  administration  ;  to  have  con- 
stant opportunities  to  observe  his  methods  of 
faithful  service  ;  to  witness  the  play  of  those 
private  qualities  which  underlie  the  official  service 
of  a  public  man  ;  and  which,  if  he  be  just  and 
generous  and  great,  reach  beyond  everything  con- 
tained in  his  published  record.  For  these,  above 
all  things  else,  it  is  my  pleasure  to  remember  him  ; 
a  contemporary  in  years  and  fellowship  ;  stricken 


1868.]  SENATE— No.  1.  85 

down  when,  if  he  might  have  lived,  higher  honors 
were  awaiting  him  ;  but  dying  in  the  maturity  of 
fame,  and  leaving  to  those  who  best  knew  him 
the  recollection  *of  one  who  was  not  greater  in 
results  than  he  was  youthful  and  ingenuous  in 
heart,  when  death  overtook  him  in  mid  career. 

"Fair  example  of  untainted  youth, 

Of  modest  wisdom,  and  pacific  truth ; 

Just  of  his  word,  in  eyery  thought  sincere. 

Who  knew  no  wish  but  what  the  world  might  hear ; 

Of  softest  manners,  unaffected  mind. 

Lover  of  peace,  and  friend  of  human  kind." 


UCSB.  LiBHARY 


